Time Heals old Wounds
by Icywinter
Summary: What if Paul Cooper and John Stillman had a little talk, what if Ellen Rush wasn't really Lilly's real mom? Please R&R FINISHED
1. A Talk Between Fathers

Just moments after Lilly had exited; Stillman glanced over seeing a broken man standing next to him.

He knew that this man was the father of someone he always thought of as a daughter. Motioning quietly, Cooper than followed the other man outside. While the backdrop of cars driving around the busy streets of Philly was below them, John felt now that it was his place into intervene.

"Lil's had it hard, can't expect her to be the little girl that you left", he said. Paul breathed out while watching the city at work, "I made a terrible mistake, leaving her with that mother of hers. Lilly was right I did what was best for me, it should have also been for her".

John nodded, as Paul began to open up, "I lied about not telling my family about her, I just felt embarrassed about the man I was back then. 30 yrs ago I was someone that I wished I wasn't", while feeling hurt building up deep down inside, "What Lilly doesn't know is Ellen Rush isn't her biological mother".

New news of that made John turn and look at the other man, "So you're saying is that you left her, with a woman that wasn't even her real mother. What happened to Lilly's real mother"?

"She died a few days after Lilly's birth; I named her after her mother. I made a mistake by moving in with Ellen and things got worse. I know that Lilly's mother is hating me for what I had done to our daughter", as another breath was released, "I lost myself, and in a way I hurt my own daughter in the midst of everything".

With the news of this, John clearly was interested to know more, "You were hiding this from Lilly all these years, that's not an excuse for the stuff that happened to her. She's right for being angry at you; I wouldn't expect her to think any differently".

"I was once married to Lilly's real mother, we were happy. The truth is that I think that she may have been murdered, nothing adds up to why she had died. Her pregnancy was normal; Lilly came out safe and sound".

John didn't quite know what to make of this, "You're telling me that your first wife had been murdered in the same hospital where she had given birth to Lilly, a few days ago. How is that all possible", glaring at him, "Unless you are lying again".

However this clearly was the truth, "The truth is, I shouldn't have run to Ellen after losing my wife. I knew she was unstable; adding a baby into it wasn't a good thing. I guess I wasn't clearly thinking about the well being of my daughter. Just 25 years old, already a widower and a new dad; didn't really know how to handle a situation like this".

"You were old enough to understand what was right from wrong. I know what your daughter has been through and it's not been a good journey for her. What happened to her young life, which you should have been around to protect and stopped"?

Paul felt more guilt creeping up on him, "I even changed Lilly's last name to Ellen's. I fell for her whole act, and the whole time didn't even know that she never loved me. She just wanted a man to make her feel happy".

With now confiding in his daughter's boss, about his own guilt; he knew the next people he had to inform was both his new family and Lilly. That last part wasn't going to be easy, "Lilly's stubborn to the core like her mother. She read right through me, and saw my lies".

John chuckled softly, "Daughter's are hard, I know I have one. My wife and I split up shortly after she had been born, but at least I got to see her grow up. Lil isn't the type for forgiving; you have to understand that she's been hurt deep down inside".

"It seems as if Lilly sees you more as father, then of me. She's closer to you", Paul said. He felt sad while saying that sentence, realizing that he was losing his own daughter again. The fear of that was now creeping down his spine, "I can't lose her".

Putting his glasses down on his desk, John exhaled softly, "I've known Lilly a long time, but I can't replace you. I see her as a daughter but she's your daughter not mine".

With that said, Paul took a seat, "What am I going to do, I blew my chances by lying right to her face. I can't go home, knowing that my daughter is angry at me".

"Tell Lilly the truth, she needs to know. I can't be the one who tells her", stated John, "I didn't make those choices"!!!

Paul then got up and walked out, he wanted now to tell Lilly but found that he felt still too weak to tell her the real story. However a trip to a cemetery yielded more pain, but it wasn't at the grave of Ellen Rush but at another one that read; Lillian Cooper.

His eyes were full of sadness, for a woman that he loved so much that had given him a beautiful daughter. Naming her after her mother seemed plausible at the time, but was however the birth certificate wasn't right.

It should have said; Lilly instead of Lillian. In time nobody had corrected it, but Paul knew that now he was a better man. In the past he had been abusive to both his wife and Ellen; but then lost himself for a long time. Who was he kidding, anymore; it only was opening up old wounds. Lilly had been right, she deserved to know.

He was the idiot of not thinking that she wouldn't bring up the subject of why he had left. Then lying flat out to a woman whom was also a detective as well; something had to change fast.

Resting a bouquet of flowers, by his wife's grave; Paul drew in a breath before making a promise to her that he would tell Lilly about the real mother that she never had.

Taking a small picture out of his jacket pocket, Paul solemnly looked younger venison of him and Lillian together. He remembered her being pregnant with Lilly, and how she felt excited over becoming a mother.

"I know that you're probably hating me for leaving our daughter, I'm sorry Lillian", he thought, "I was the one who messed up".


	2. The other woman in the mirror

Later on after getting back, Lilly threw down her keys waiting to lounge herself in a nice warm bath. She needed one after such a long day; there weren't many times that she could just indulge herself without worrying about the case. With an aching back, Lilly yawned slightly because ascending upstairs and into her bedroom.

Her hand turned the knob, allowed the warm water to flow freely into her whirlpool tub. While that was going on, Lilly lit some candles before undressing. Coming back into the bathroom, with a robe on; she then added some scents into the bath water. Fragrant yes, as she breathed in its aroma. Not long after, her now bare body lowered itself into the tub full of hot, relaxing water.

Moaning slightly, Lilly allowed herself to lie back while feeling the vibrations of her the water whirling around. Her eyes closed, while taking in long, deep breaths. Relaxing was something that she was in need for a very long time. As all her worries and thoughts drifted away; the candles continued to flicker softly.

Back in a hotel, across town, pictures from the past were scattered about all over the bed. A hand that belonged to only Paul Cooper gently touched a photo of his first wife. His eyes felt saddened, over losing her. She loved him dearly unlike Ellen Rush, whom probably didn't really love him. They did manage to conceive another daughter in their brief; six year relationship.

He barely remembered the baby that now had grown into a train wrecked named; Christina Rush. That wasn't the point; the reality has already set in. Lilly was hurting, he knew that she thought that he didn't love her enough to tell his family about her; but she was wrong. Paul did love her a lot, more than words could ever express; but now he knew she needed to come home and meet his family.

Besides she wasn't a love child, but a daughter he had before meeting his current wife. Then he came across a diary that he dared not to open. Paul couldn't face reality that he never had found out why Lillian had been killed, but she probably was appalled by the way he treated Lilly.

In fact right now, he wanted to go over to Lilly's apartment and tell her but felt that he wasn't emotionally ready to confine in his heartbroken, sad and angry daughter.

Across town, Lilly resided still in the warm tub; while her heart beat softly inside. For the first time, she was pampering herself. Her body needed this more than anything else, she was glad not to hear the sound of her cell ringing. That in itself was a relief, perhaps this good thing. Moments then flew by as the door opened, before Lilly now decked out in a silk gown came out.

Pulling back the sheets, she then got in and snuggled against the covers. Before long, Lilly was asleep while the spirit of her birth mother stood in the shadows. She too wanted her own justice, but continued to watch her daughter she loved so much; sleep. Slowly Lillian then disappeared leaving her grown child in dreamland.

At headquarters, while the cleaning crew was there; Stillman was still sitting in his office now reading over a box of the mother of one of his best detectives. Even the picture resembled of that of Lilly, but however it in the photos he caught something.

Keeping this private, he then sent it to Frankie so that she could take a look at it; before Frannie did as well. The last thing that John had wanted was to everyone to know that Lilly's biological mother had been murdered.

It was out of protection, when morning came he saw Lilly walking into as usual. He knew that she deserve to know, but it wasn't his place at all. Besides John didn't feel like upsetting her already, with that said he put the box away underneath his desk. It was a safe place, but his guilt about looking into this was bothering him.

Later on, Paul caught up with Lilly, "We need to talk, it's important", he said touching her arm, "I know that you're busy but I want to come clean about everything".

"Could have done that before instead of lying", she said, "I'm very busy, got a case to work on".

He wouldn't let go, before giving her a piece of paper with an address written on it, "This is a place that we can talk alone, you need to know. It is your business, but I don't want to lose you again. It's been 30 years since I've felt this happy to be back with my daughter again".

Lilly could see that he was genuine about his feelings, she did love him; but was afraid to get hurt. All her life she had been hurt, but she needed still to know why he had left and not returned.

Taking the piece of paper, she walked off as Paul hoped that she would give him at least a chance to explain himself. He knew that he wanted to continue to have a relationship with her; after all Lilly was part of his family too. Back in Homicide, Frankie closed the door to John's office noticing that all the blinds had been drawn.

"Something going on", she asked. John motioned for her to take a seat, "This is private, I'm reopening a murder of Rush's biological mother. She can't know as of yet, did you find anything in those photos".

Frankie shook her head, "Nothing, I'm sorry", as she then got up before allowed Frannie to enter into the room. Somehow her findings changed the investigation, "Her body appears to be in a post-partum stage. Typical swelling of the breasts, suggesting that she had recently given birth".

"Lil was born three days before", added John, "You find anything else"?

With a nod she then placed down two of the pictures, "See this little stab marks, it could just be a reaction from a needle. Poisoning could be an option, until I found this. Lillian's medical records; states here those three months before giving birth, she had been rushed to the hospital".

John looked up, "Any signs of physical abuse"?

"No, but one of the nurses was fired three weeks after her death. Could be a homicidal nurse"?

With a new lead, Stillman was ready to solve this murder. With a mystery nurse as the first suspect, he didn't have too much to go on.

Somehow a new piece of evidence, came to light, "Dug through the records at the hospital, Lillian was a nurse there", Jefferies stated showing him a photo of all the nurses, and "Any of them could have harmed her, but took a look into the hospital where Lil had been born. Turns out she was born in a different hospital".

While both Stillman and Jefferies were putting the case in order, Lilly took a chance and went over to the hotel after work. She remained on guard though, but shortly after taking a seat Paul slowly informed her of the news.

However Lilly remembered something, about Christina being Ellen's favorite. This all was making logical sense, "Why didn't you tell me, Dad"?

"You were too young back then, and now I didn't want to hurt you. Moving in with Ellen was the worst mistake of my life, your mother was different", feeling the sadness returning, "I still miss her Lilly, I made poor judgment. I didn't do what was best for you when I left, you are right".

Lilly was curious about her real mother, "You left me with some woman that wasn't really my real mother, and let me be abused by her. Then why don't I have your last name"?

The storm was already brewing harder, as Paul felt another wave hitting him fast, "You did when you were born, I was duped into one of Ellen's wraths. She didn't love me; she just thought that I could give her happiness".

The look on Lilly's face was scorning with anger, "How could you"??

Paul touched her hand, "Look I screwed up Lilly, losing your mother broke me completely. She was murdered three days after you were born; I was 25 and a father of a newborn. My mind wasn't exactly thinking straight. You and I can't change the past, but I never stopped loving you Lilly. I have always loved you".

With now crossing her arms, Lilly frowned, "You left me with a drunk, I'm going to ask you again why did you didn't take me with you"?

"I had no money, what was I going to do with a six year old all by myself. I couldn't support you, the best thing to do at the time was to leave you in Philly", he said, "I should have came back for you Lilly, you needed me".

She then let him have it, "I was abused even was attacked, sent me out to get her a drink and I land up with my jaw being broken and five broken teeth", which made Paul look up, "What, how old were you"?

"Ten couldn't just get it herself. No she had to get me out of bed, but didn't disturb my sister".

The look in Paul's eyes grew serious, "I'm sorry, I wish I could have stopped it. Your real mother probably is looking down on me, she loved you Lilly. I'm not just saying this, I heard her say it".

"You're probably just making stuff up now", as Paul then handed her a photo, "Here's your proof, this was taken a day before she had you".

Looking at the photo, Lilly saw that her mother looked just like her; she was beautiful. Then her eyes caught sight her father's hand resting on her stomach. They seemed happy, "You two were married", noticing their wedding rings on each of their fingers, "How was she killed"?

Paul sighed solemnly, "I don't know, someone found her dead the next morning. I went into shock but the doctors informed me that you were alright. Got to hold you, must have cried for hours. We didn't know what to name you, but I gave you hers in honor of her".

"Do I remind you of her", asked Lilly? Paul nodded, "Got her stubborn streak, but she never got a chance to be mother. She knew that she was going have a daughter, said that she dreamt about it".

Taking her hand into his, he then looked into her blue eyes, "Your boss just informed me that they'll reopen the case due to a new lead. I want you to know something that I am not embarrassed to have daughter like you. Yes I abused Ellen, but she abused me far worse. There are some things that aren't meant to be discussed. Just know that I love you".

With that said, Lilly then let out a breath, "Why would you tell Stillman about my mother"?

"I want this thing solved, for your mother's sake. I know that she's proud of you; and so am I", which made her feel a bit better. She then decided not to get angry; perhaps this was a way to also bring closure to her father as well.

As Lilly glanced at her original birth certificate, she saw that her full name was actually; Lilly Kathryn Cooper, born to both Lillian and Paul Cooper. There was a longing to know the mother she never had known.

She was part of his family, but couldn't help to think about Ellen; her so called pretend mother, "The last words my "Mom" had said to be was" Bye Baby".

"Ellen loved you in her own mind, but your entire mother was so happy", a smile now broke onto his face, "She told me that the doctors placed your head on her chest, she felt this wave of happiness. When I saw you, I never forgot those first few moments. Never experienced those types again, not even with my other kids", which was the truth.

Glancing at a photo of her mother, Lilly knew she also needed her own justice as well. Also for her mother that never got a chance fully to be one. Paul was determined to patch things up between him and Lilly, "It's been 30 years since I've felt that happiness. Seeing you again gave that back to me, I worried about how'd you turn out, but you've turned into a beautiful, smart young woman".

Her eyes dimmed, "What about Christina your other daughter", she asked, "Don't you care about her"?

Paul thought for a moment, "I do but I don't think that she's mine. Ellen cheated on me regularly, something that I never had done. We were broke, even with my job nothing helped. She stole from me, couldn't feed you".

"I understand", but her anger was now subsided. Perhaps he wasn't the one to blame anymore, besides he was the only parent that she had left.

With this new story shining to light, Lilly wanted to solve this case. It would prove to be difficult one for her, at headquarters everyone knew now. Scotty was the most compassionate one, knowing that his partner and friend hadn't had a great childhood. He promised himself to be there if she wanted to talk.


	3. Finding the truth

** PLEASE REVIEW, it's the only credit we writers have**

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When Lilly returned, she felt odd that the victim was her own mother; but the squad was compassionate about her feelings. They respected the feeling had had arisen but didn't push for answers, but this was a case that she was certainly going to learn more about her mother.

Hearing that her mother was a nurse, made Lilly feel a certainly way, " Seems as if she had knack about being a good nurse but she had quit just five months before my arrival". Vera shook his head," Will and Kat are headed over to speak with one of doctors, whose still alive and kicking".

Over at Philly General, Marvin Miller sat there looking rather old. He then crossed his arms, upon hearing the name: Lillian Cooper.

"Yeah I knew her, good nurse. Hard working husband, they were flat out broke. Didn't help when she got pregnant; that changed Lillian. Never seen any woman be so happy to be having a baby, I did miss her. Sad that she died, no one knew why she did. Husband was in denial; now faced with raising the baby on his own".

Marvin then let a sighed, "I liked Lillian, and everyone did. She mostly kept to herself, worked hard didn't give anyone a hard time. She didn't get close to anyone, but enjoyed reading to the sick kids. I think they felt comforted; just by her energy".

Jefferies could tell that the man wasn't lying nor hiding something, before leaving. Across town, several of the nurses were being interviewed; all basically said the same story. It amazed Lilly, which her mother was like her; in the manner how she acted. Perhaps it wasn't someone she knew, but just a random killing act.

The last nurse that had checked on her, revealed something. Inside of the room, Betsy Adams looked tired but appeared to be more grandmotherly than anything else.

"So you were the last nurse to check on Lillian Cooper that night, anything specific that you can recall", asked Scotty. Betsy drew in a breath, "She was so happy, about having a little girl. Wanted me to bring her in so that she could kiss her good-night; but I told her that rules were rules".

Her guilt was clearly displayed, "Went about my business, didn't see anything odd", as Scotty looked straight ahead at the two-way mirror. He knew that Lilly had heard everything, but he knew that this case was going to clearly heal her old wounds.

Shortly after the nurse had left, Scotty could tell that his partner and friend couldn't fathom about whom was really her mother. For that he didn't blame her, but there was something else that was now triggering her.

Outside, Scotty stood next to Lilly; knowing that this hard for her to solve, "If you need to talk, I'm here", he said offering up himself. Although the two hadn't really been close since her shooting; Scotty now knew that he had to be a better friend; especially while solving this case.

However Lilly just simply walked away, but somehow didn't feel quite like discussing her inner most feelings with him. Besides the fact, that this wasn't the time nor the place to be discussing this. With that said the two continued to work up on several leads, before finding out that they went nowhere.

When the go ahead to exhumed her mother's grave was put into place, Lilly's stomach felt uneasy knowing that inside of the coffin was a woman that had given her life. She couldn't fathom watching, but as her head turning seeing her father there, Lilly walked closer still feeling miserable. The same went for Paul, whom found that he couldn't breathe knowing that his first wife's coffin was now being exhumed.

"Came to see this for yourself", she asked? Paul nodded softly, "I need to know the truth, for me and for you. I can't live with this guilt any longer, about why your mother had died".

Lilly could see his own pain, before turning around seeing her mother's casket being carried over to a nearby waiting truck. It was there when she noticed that her father wasn't looking, "Dad is you alright"?

"Yeah, I just can't see that. I still love your mother".

While the autopsy was being performed, Vera held up a photo of Lilly as a baby, "Cute Kid", looking towards her general direction. Lilly glared at him, before Stillman came over also glanced at the phone. He said nothing, but then looked up at his squad, "We're still awaiting results, but just two weeks before your birth Lil, two women had died in two separate wards".

News of that made Scotty look up, "The cause of death was natural, but two women under 40 dying that doesn't make sense boss. Could get their medical records and duty rosters see whom was on duty, could shed some light".

Just then Jefferies came over, "Except for this, a woman reported someone injected her with something in the middle of the night, but no one had looked into this. Could be someone unrelated to both the hospital and victims"?

Shaking her head solemnly, Kat felt bad of Lilly knowing that she never got a chance to know her real mother. Although her upbringing was far from normal, Kat could now understand why Lilly was like the way she was.

After the autopsy was complete, it had appeared to find not a thing on how Lillian had died. With this case looking pretty much the way it had started, Stillman wasn't one for giving up. In fact, he owed it to Lilly to find out who her mother's killer was. Just then Vera came rushing into the bullpen, waving around a piece of paper.

"I Think I found something, which might explain why nobody was able to determine the cause of death".

Looking at the pictures, Lilly felt her stomach turn, " I think she was trying to get help, then something happened", as she then notice in of the photos, that her mother's right hand was rest on her stomach, " She probably wanted me", her voice was soft and sad, " Could be that's why her hand is resting there".

Kat shook her head, "Or it could be her trying to defend herself against someone or something, as for her hand it's just an instinct. She spends nine moments carrying you inside of her, that type of thing you get used to. Feeling the baby's movements daily".

With that said, Lilly knew that she couldn't relate personally but someone knew that her mother loved her. The question is now was why someone would kill her.


	4. On Road to the truth

During the course of the day, Lilly stepped outside taking as she breathed in some fresh air into her lungs. Her thoughts were on her biological mother, wondering about her. The truth was, she wanted to know so much about the woman whom had given birth to her, almost forty years ago. Breathing in again, she wished that she had gotten the chance to have been loved by her.

Just then Scotty came out, seeing his sister standing there. Yes he always had thought of her as a sister; an older sister but knew that Lilly had a terrible childhood. She deserved to have justice as well, it was only fair. Somehow she sensed his presence, "I guess the only place I had felt safe was inside of her; protected and warm", her voice now trailing off.

"That was the first place we all felt that way", he said unsure of what really to say, "You don't know what would have happened if she would have lived".

Lilly breathed in again," What if there was something wrong with my mom, who killed her", turning towards her partner, "Could be the reason for why she appeared to be trying to seek help, in those photos"? As she then went back in before pulling out the photo, Lilly's eyes studied it wondering if her theory was correct.

It still had hurt to look at picture of her deceased mother, knowing that there probably was love inside of her heart that she would never get to received. Lilly knew she couldn't change the past, but knew that she owned it to her to find out the truth, "We get her medical files yet, could shed some light on this".

Later that night, as Lilly lounged around in a pair of sweat pants; she sat there looking through a box of old photos. Wrapped around her was a long sweat that had once belonged to Ellen Rush; something that Lilly couldn't just throw away.

There was no doubt that she missed her, but perhaps it was good thing that she wasn't around anymore. Still, it was because of her that Lilly was afraid to have any kids; fearing that somehow she would turn into her. That in itself is the reason why she'd shun away from any sort of relationship; thus always ending in heartbreak.

While deep in thought, her father whom was sitting on the end of the couch was also looking at old photos; once with him holding Lilly as a little girl. He felt guilty for leaving his daughter; so young and with a woman whom wasn't even her real mother.

Glancing over at the beautiful woman that she had already become, Paul felt a surge of happiness that this daughter had turned out to be a strong, smart woman. He could see all the hurt in her eyes, divulging from deep inside of her own past. Paul knew now that her mind was on solving the case of a mother that she never had known.

"Your mother made me take this picture, I always thought it looked very maternal", as he moved closer to Lilly. As her eyes looked at the photography of her mother's hand caressing her bare stomach, it made her understand about a love for something unborn. How the emotion that her mother's face displayed gave Lilly a sense of something loving.

That her mother loved her even before she had given birth, but then saw a photo of how her parents loved each other, " You were happy their Dad, and young too", flashing a smile at him. Paul also smiled, "What I'm not young now", he teased?

Lilly laughed softly, "Everything looked happy", but that was when Paul's smile disappeared, "Not everything was happy, I was working in construction at the time. We were just barely getting by, but we still loved each other".

Flipping through more pages, she saw photos of her mother as a little girl. Just by looking at these, gave a sense of family history that Lilly never had known about. Even after looking at them together, she felt no closer to solving the case than before.

"Could it b possible that mom might have died, due to something wrong with her", asked Lilly, "I have this gut feeling that she did".

Paul sighed softly, "I don't know Lilly, but your mother did complain about her heart pounding a few weeks before she died. She was experiencing them after you were born; I passed it off nerves". His eyes looked downward, "They would have known right"?

The next day Lilly found yet another nurse that had been filling in on maternity ward, the week of her birth. Much to her surprised Marie Dosse still remembered her mother, "I heard what happened, never thought someone could do that do a new mother".

"What did you think happened", asked Lilly?

Marie glanced over, "I don't know", as the blonde cut in, "Did Lillian complain about her heart pounding or anything remotely close"?

"Yes but I took a listen, her heart sounded fine to me. Her pulse was normal. She was nervous as all first time mothers are. Didn't even name her baby girl yet, just called her "Sweet One". Always thought it was a nice gesture", as Lilly got up feeling the tears threatening to fall.

Somehow Marie noticed this as well, but soon realized that this blonde detective was that baby, "You look so much like your mother, and she loved you detective".

Back at the station, Scotty was interviewing yet another nurse whom had come forward. Even though they first found that all of the nurses were dead, they were wrong. This woman Shelby; a woman with dark curly hair, sat there across from him; looking at photo of Lillian, "Already had a pet name for her baby; Sweet One. Said that her daughter looked very sweet, she did. Perfect specimen of a baby, fair skin, and blue eyes", as Shelby put her glasses down.

The word: Sweet One; did flow with Lilly; she was sweet even for a sister that Scotty always thought of her as, "You see anyone else entering the room, a doctor anyone who had a problem with Lillian".

Shelby shook her head no, "Didn't see anyone, but she loved her baby. However she complained once again about her heart pounding. I once again checked her vital signs, even listened to her heart. Everything was normal, couldn't understand why"?

Behind the mirror, Lilly had jotted down some notes, "Perhaps she was afraid of someone or something could be the trigger. Dad said that she was nervous before giving birth to me".

Stillman found something new out," Your mother kept on complaining about it, it must have been serious. If her vitals were normal then why"?

"Somebody's not telling the truth", as Scotty stepped out, "Or they didn't know, I don't think any of these nurses killed her, certainly not your dad Lil".

With all this Lilly sought the advice of a doctor, "Certain drugs could cause a heart to pound", but as she then looked up, "Says here she wasn't on any drugs, It's important to the investigation". Much to her surprised ADA Bell had already sent him the info on the originally autopsy of her mother. While he pored over the documents, Lilly headed back to the station.

Even as the afternoon turned into night, as Lilly continued to work at it; until she heard the sound of someone knocked at her front door. Upon answering it, no one was there except a large envelope inside of her mailbox.

Once inside, Lilly saw a photo of her mother lying face down on the titled floor. She now knew that her mother didn't die in her hospital bed; someone had staged it.


	5. Barely Breathing

With this new light, it made both Lilly and the squad dig even deeper; but still the nickname that she had been given to as a baby still made her sad. Still it made her really wonder, what her mother was really going to name her.

However it made Lilly have a sit down conversation with her father, at headquarters. He wasn't considered a suspect since the there wasn't anything linking him to the murder, but inside of a room which wasn't an interrogation room; Lilly slid the new photo across the table. As Paul looked at the photo, he quickly sighed solemnly

He couldn't fathom why someone would do this, "How did this happen to her", now looking up at his daughter. Lilly sighed softly, "I don't know, but did you know what mom was going to name me"?

Paul's eyes now looked down at the deceased photo of his first wife; he felt his heart break even more. Still he owed it to her and their daughter to find out the truth. When his eyes looked up at Lilly, he still didn't answer the question. Somehow her hand touched his, "Several people we interviewed said that she called me" Sweet One", is that true"?

"I can see why she called you that", he said with a smile, "No I never heard her actually call you that, but there was a doctor I recalled that would come into visit her".

This immediately peaked Lilly's interest, "Did you know why he was there", she asked, "Did this have something to do with her heart pounding"? Paul shook his head, "I don't know why, but a month before you had arrived, I saw him listening to your mother's stomach". He could remember quite vividly how strange the doctor was.

Paul knew that this guy might have killed Lillian, but he wasn't so sure. "After that, your mother grew weary of him. Aside from that, she protected you".

After jotting down what she knew, Lilly could feel the tears emerging in her eyes, and "You recall his name, save us the trouble finding that out"?

"No, but I saw him again when you four. He tuned and stared down at you, before moving on", which intrigued her to no end. However, as the two got up Paul gently touched her hand, "Whatever happened, just know that she loved you Lilly. Find her killer".

Somehow Kat was able to track down the doctor, before bringing him in. Inside of the room, both Scotty and Jefferies didn't like the very sight of Michael Volt; whom had piercing black eyes and a cold stare. Placing a photo down of Lillian, he turned his head away, "She was one of my patients, and had complications during her pregnancy".

Taking a seat Jefferies didn't like the very sight of Michael, "What Complications, her daughter was born without any problems"?

Without blinking, Michael remained cold and bitter to both of the detectives, " Spotting during the first three months, plus the baby was in breech position; meaning it was upside down", however that's when Scotty held back his tie, " Only one problem doc", as he sat down, " Lillian didn't have a c-section, because her baby was positioned normally".

Michael glared at the younger detective, "So what's your point, I made a mistake no big deal. I was in the room after she had given birth, I did listen to the baby's heartbeat. Everything sounded normal", as he then leaned forward," Can I leave now"?

"Where you were around the time that Lillian had been murdered", Michael crossed his arms, "Performing surgery, check it out".

Soon after the cold hearted doctor had left, Lilly began to do some research on her own. Pressing two of her fingers to the side of her neck, as she began taking her pulse; somehow it was normal. She couldn't understand why her mother was complaining so much.

Even as Lilly began her usual running, she kept track of her heart rate; trying to formulate if there was a connection. Somehow there wasn't a connection, but just moments after cooling off; her phone rang. The doctor had gotten back to her, inside of his office; Lilly had realized that the original autopsy photos showed a disturbing pattern.

Two other victims had died the same way, but were older. All had complained about heart palpitations prior to death. However their deaths were immediate, unlike Lilly's mother whom had died three days later.

"It could be this or the victim could have had something wrong that went undiagnosed", which now gave Lilly an idea. Just moments after leaving she contracted Scotty, but he also had new information for her.

Sitting in her living room, the two then proceeded to go over the case together. However the real reason why Scotty had remained silent was only because he wanted to protect Lilly. After all she was his sister, and this was only in his best interests. Knowing her, Scotty knew that there wasn't a lot of time before she read into his thoughts about what he knew.

Somehow it didn't take that long, for her to discover that he knew something, "Tell me, Damn it Scotty if you know something tell me"!!

"That woman in that photo a fake, pointing to a computer in the background; someone imposed her there trying to make up believe that she was your mother. I had this part blown up, the date is from three days ago", which made this case even more worth perusing, "So the killer would make us believe that your mom had died on the floor".

Lilly knew that Scotty was still hiding something, "What you say would hurt me, I need to know", and her eyes looking very serious at him. He hesitated for a moment before releasing a breath, "A witness came forward and told us that he swore he heard your mother gasping for breath; then someone closed the door. She was calling out for you Lil, saying, and "My baby I need her".

Tears came out slowly, knowing that her mother did love her, "Did this witness see who was in the room"?

"No, I didn't want to tell you this Lil", which made her frown at him. Lilly was disgusted with how he could keep information like this away from her, "Leave Scotty, Now", as she then got up and opened the door.

Just a few hours after this, Lilly was asleep in bed when her phone rang, "I killed your mother, Lilly", which right away made her bolt up from her pillow. Though she had terrible bed hair, her cop instants were sharp as a whistle, "Who are you", she yelled into the phone?

"That you don't need to know do you, Lilly", his, voice sending chills down her spine, "I've been watching you for a long time, how your tiny eyes opened in the nursery. Too precious for a three day old, not knowing that your Mommy was dying alone in bed; your Daddy left six years later. No wonder why you are alone".

Those last words reminded Lilly of George, but was about to be intimidated by some freak on the other line, "Listen to me I'm not afraid of you, you killed her why"?

The mysterious voice laughed, "You think about it don't you, glancing down at your navel; knowing that once you were connected to your mom. Receiving her love inside of her womb", this was clearly getting to Lilly whom was tougher than ever, "I'm not buying your bullshit, you want to talk then talk, or I'm hanging up".

When the killer hung up, Lilly immediately had the number traced. Somehow the number didn't trace back to any of their suspects; which had an alibi.


	6. Twists

Something about the phone call, made Lilly's heartbeat quicken. Her gut feeling had told her to not drop any leads she had one, but to look much further into things. Something inside, warned Lilly to stay home and not goes out. This time she listened, before stepped inside of the shower. As she stood underneath the warm water, showering; her mind was trying to stop thinking about theories this time of day.

In the middle of showering the lights shut off, leaving Lilly in pitch black. She listened intently while the thudding in her heart only seemed to increase. Very carefully, the water was then shut off before she stepped out; wrapping a towel around her body. With each heavy heart beat, Lilly carefully opened the bathroom door, before grabbing a hold of a flashlight.

After putting on a pair of jeans and t-shirt in one motion, Lilly's heart was still racing fast. Then the sound of her cell phone ringing; instantly startled her. However no open spoke on the other line before it went dead. To her she knew it was the same caller as before, but as her hand now rested on her chest; she felt her heart racing even more.

The next question was; why was she so scared of this caller she wondered to herself; why trying to calm herself down. When Lilly pulled herself together, and realized that perhaps her mother had felt threatened before giving birth. That could explain for her actions at the hospital, but why?

Glancing over at the photo of her mother that was on her nightstand; Lilly had wished she was still alive. For some reason she felt unusual close; but knew she was going to give her mother some justice after all.

Over in New Jersey, Paul was already up due to the fact that he couldn't sleep. As the phone rang, the same voice that had taunted Lilly; was now taunting him.

"Some promise you made, couldn't even keep it. Left your little girl with some drunk, hmm not too good of you, wonder how Lillian would feel knowing that her" Sweet One" was hurting".

Paul knew that this had something to do with the case, but felt a big need to protect Lilly. After he wasn't going to let anyone harm his daughter, "WHO ARE YOU", he grunted, "What do you want"?

The voice on the other line, could feel his fear brewing, "You're scared of losing the only thing that Lillian had given you. The truth her daughter should have died, before being born", which made Paul even angrier.

"How dare you, speak about Lilly that way", he yelled, "I will hurt you if you do", before the line went dead. In a matter of moments, he then called Stillman wanting the number to be trace; and adding protection for Lilly as well.

There was only one problem; the person had called from various pay phones; which all had gone on fire. Whoever was going it was going to great lenths to not be traced or found. By 6am, with the electric still not one, Lilly had no idea what to do next.

It was then when Stillman, had given her an order to remain home; while the rest of the squad was called out to investigate a dead body, with a connection to this case.

Right away, both Vera and Scotty knew that this woman was just killed randomly, "There's no connection, Lil's mother didn't have any of their distinctive patterns", pointing to six bruises and long, deep cuts along the abdomen.

Bending down, Kat looked at the pattern, " Except that this woman is a prostitute, what the hell does a prostitute and Lil's mother have in common", looking up at the men, " One worked on the streets the other died three days after giving birth"?

"It's a setup", Scotty replied as the rain came pouring down on them. Back at home, Lilly leaned against the wall, while listening to the sound of thunder mixing with rain. She wondered more about the mother that she never knew, about who she was. The only connection to her was through her father; but even he had seemed to be in emotional pain whenever Lilly brought up the subject.

Still she had no idea what her hobbies were, kind of music she was into, and whom she really was as a person. After all, Lilly deserve to know the truth; before heading on over to the couch. Resting on the coffee table was another photo album, one that she hadn't seen before.

It was one of her at the age of six, although she looked so happy and carefree while riding her bike; Lilly knew that in reality her life wasn't full of happiness. Looking at more shots of her, she now realized that these were taken by just anyone; but her mother's killer.

It had to be, but still Lilly had to be sure of that. At the cemetery, Paul Cooper stood there looking down solemnly at his former wife's grave. He missed her terribly, but silently vowed to give her some justice that she deserved.

"I promise Lillian, I owe it to you", he thought, "and our daughter", before resting some flowers against her headstone. Standing back, Paul knew that his life would have been much different if Lillian was still around, Lilly would have grown up with a normal, loving mother. That was thinking too much, but deep inside of his heart, he felt guilty for all the mistakes that he had made, long ago.

Later on he went on over to Lilly's apartment, seeing all the paper sprawled out all over the coffee table. Paul knew that her job held a very significant meaning; but it was this case that that was getting to her. His eyes quickly adverted away from the photo of Lillian; knowing that her face still broke his heart deeply.

Taking a seat, he noticed how his daughter threw herself into solving this case. Inside, it made him wonder if she was ever going to have a family of her own. Paul wanted so much for Lilly, but knew it that they both were still trying to connect with each other again.

"You do anything beside work Lilly", he asked, wondering if she had any hobbies or something besides solving cold jobs for that matter. However in her mind, Lilly knew that her father was posing an honest question, "No, I guess I always put my job ahead of everything else".

Paul nodded, "You should have someone to share your life with; start a family. I want that for you Lilly, you deserve it"; just as she was about to say something her phone rang. It was Scotty, alerting her that the body of Ellen Rush had been dug up. On the way there, Lilly was grabbed from being and abducted in an effort to stop the investigation.


	7. Serial Murderer Case

Lilly coughed violently as she struggled to breathe in some sweet air. Her head was completely foggy, but still she was stuck inside of a stuffy van. Her senses were off, but until the sound of a gun cocking behind her head, told her to keep quiet.

She didn't want to die, not her and certainly not now. Then someone had kicked her sharply in the stomach before Lilly felt a hand smacking her face six times, being restrained made her unable to fight back. The last blow to her stomach caused her to cry out in massive pain.

"Please", she yelled, "Why are you doing this", as the person kept on hurting her until the other man told him to stop. For awhile there was dead silence in the van, making Lilly believe that her own death was near. Even as the blood dripped out of her nose, she thought of several theories wondering if they were all somehow connected to her mother's death.

Somehow when Lilly looked over, she saw her mother's face through the window. This immediately shocked her beyond belief, before seeing that she was gone. Perhaps even in death, her mother was somehow trying to warn her about possibly danger. It had seemed for awhile, that Lilly was trapped inside of this stuffy van.

After blacking out, she had no idea what was to come next. When she finally had awakened she found herself lying on the side of the road, while the heavy rain continued to pour down from the heavy clouds above. Upon getting up, Lilly bent over in pain; due to a blow to her stomach. Struggling harder, she managed to pull herself up all the ground.

Despite the pain, Lilly continued walking, before realizing that she was totally lost. Without her cell, she knew that the only way to get some help was to keep on walking.

Back at headquarters, everyone was in an uproar over Lilly being abducted. With a case still to be solved, they continued to go harder to seek out the truth. Someone during the course of the day, Scotty received a phone call from Lilly.

By the time he rushed right down to the emergency room where Lilly was sitting, Scotty automatically knew something wasn't right. Judging by what had happened to her, he was now convinced this was merely just a rouse to see what would happen.

Still, Lilly remained quiet even as a nurse was in the middle of taking her blood pressure. Turning his back slightly, Scotty glanced over at Vera, "It's a rouse, how are we going to find this sick son of a bitch"?

A few hours later, as Scotty, Vera and Lilly were headed back to Philly; the rain came pouring down hard. Her eyes studied the rain, while her heart had seemed to be pounding out of her chest. Lilly tried to breathe but found that she couldn't, but one thing that she wasn't going to do is let them see her own weakness. Clearly what had happened to her was still present, turning slightly; Lilly once again saw her mother's face in the window.

Looking up, the face was gone. It saddened her that she never got to have normal, descent, loving mother. Back in New Jersey, Paul felt even more miserable than before. Not only did he lie to his current wife but to himself. Who was he kidding; he still loved Lillian and wished that she was still alive. One thing that he didn't wish was for Ellen Rush to be alive.

Most certainly she broke his heart when she had an affair, which resulted in Christina's birth. More importantly, how Ellen treated Lilly before and after he had left. Paul knew that his addiction to alcohol was must stronger than raising his own child, but Lilly should have been with him. She was his blood; not Ellen's.

Then the phone rang, once Paul heard that Lilly was back and safe at home; he automatically grabbed his keys and headed across the bridge into Philadelphia. Once there, his mind knew that she probably was at home.

Much to his decision, Lilly was in fact; at home. He automatically saw the bruises on her face, knowing that someone had harmed his little girl.

"What happened", he asked worriedly, "Lilly please tell me", his eyes looking painfully scared. As a father, he wanted whoever had done this to pay. Taking her hand into his, Paul could see that his daughter was scared, "You're not weak for feeling that way, its normal".

"Did someone threaten Mom, or did she have a problem with anyone. You have to tell the truth dad, for Mom", Lilly said, "I never got to know her, but she still means something to me".

Paul drew in a deep breath, before looking on over at her, "No it was after she died, that I received a phone call. Someone was watching me the day I buried her, you were in my arms. All I had now was you, and I screwed up", his voice grew quiet, "Should have been a better father, and not took to the bottle".

Lilly knew that he was guilty of what he had done, but still needed to know more information. However with the pain still emulating from her stomach, she then went upstairs to lie down. This wasn't like her, but she had to take it easy after everything that had happened.

Back in homicide, things were heating up. Around the same time of Lillian's death, a nurse was found dead on the floor with a needle next to her. Of course that wasn't found, until someone had found the body in Kensington six hours ago. CSU found the photos and someone of the clothes but nothing else.

However there was something else; a map of a place that appeared to be of a hospital or a building. While the map was being run for fingerprints, Scotty looked more at the logs trying to determine who was on shift and who the nurse was.

Clearly this murder was random and growing very dangerous by the minute, so much so that ADA Bell chimed in to help the detectives on this investigation. Unlike all the other ADA's, he wasn't about to hit on Lilly nor Kat. Although he and Kat went out to a rock concert, they were just close friends if nothing more.

He wasn't the type to be sleeping with people he worked with, but his main focus for now was on this case. Looking at the photo he saw an instant resemblance, "She looks like Detective Rush". Everyone looked at him oddly, "It's her mother", answered Kat while snatching a piece of paper away from Vera's hand.

ADA Bell looked stumped for a second, before realizing who she was, "I put a warning out matching the description that Detective Rush had stated, have we checked out anyone suspects"?

"Yeah all of them were clear, all had alibis, which doesn't add up", Scotty replied, "Someone knew we opened this case, and knew about Lil. If this was a random killing, then why threaten both Lil and her dad. Or killed her when she was still a baby, why just leave her and not kill her also"?

Jefferies shook his head, "Because this guy preys on fear, Lil's mother could have had it. Threaten a new mother could do things to her mind; for one protecting her baby".

"Speaking out where is Sweet One", joked Vera before Miller shot him a look, "Maybe the guy was teaching Lil a lesson, or warning her not to continue to find her mother's killer", until Scotty came forward with more information, "CSU just found two of the bodies of the assigned detectives at the time, found in the woods in New Jersey", slapping down a photo of the bodies, "One of them had a photo of Lillian in their pocket".

This made Stillman's eyebrows arch, "Let's head on over there, we don't have any time to waste".

Scotty sighed softly, " What about Lil, she ain't going to just sit there at him. She ain't the type to be doing that boss".

"Lil's still in pain Scotty, her father's there right now. She isn't going anything I already gave her an order", which made Scotty chuckle, "Good luck on that one Boss".

As much as Scotty knew that his partner would probably show up, Lilly didn't. In fact, she continued to reside in bed after her attack. She didn't feel up to working, or doing anything. Peering down at her navel, Lilly knew that one time she had once been connected to her mother; receiving the love that now she didn't have.

Sure it was a maternal feeling; but it symbolized a bond that she had long ago. Although Lilly wasn't a mother herself, she could her own biological clock ticking. She wasn't going to let her own desire get in the way of solving this case. That and that Lilly had to let go of her own past, before even pursuing what she wanted so badly.

For now, Lilly closed her eyes and trying to let the Tylenol dull her pain. While she slept, her squad was out in the wood in New Jersey trying to scrap up more clues. Next to the bodies were six more skeletons; now the homicide squad knew that they were officially dealing with a serial killer.


	8. New Leads

When the bodies were being transported back to Philly, Scotty crouched over the empty graves wondering about why the killer would hide them here. This place was abandoned and had been even during the early 70's, but still nothing made a whole lot of sense. Mainly his thoughts ran deep about Lilly, knowing that she was only three days old; merely a newborn when her mother had been murdered.

For that he felt sorry for his friend, knowing that she had gone throughout her whole life with an abusive, alcoholic mother. Still, Scotty owed it to Lilly seek out the truth; her truth. However what he also knew was that he was going to hurt whoever had hurt her. Nobody messed with his sister; surely they didn't know what was coming.

While the squad was doing that, Paul was watching Lilly sleeping in bed. He remembered the first time that he had ever laid his eyes on her, seeing her tiny eyes opening. To him, it was the only memory that he'd ever would share with his now deceased wife. Turning around slightly, Paul now saw Lillian very pregnant looking straight at him.

_He then moved slowly, towards her before his lips then gently captured hers. As the two continued to share a kiss, Lillian then felt something. Without a word, she then placed his hand there; feeling their unborn baby; whom one day would be the first female homicide detective in Philly. Looking up, Paul then peered down now seeing Lilly as a newborn baby._

_She was crying, while her tiny hands were in fists._

"_Daddy", a small voice called out. When he looked up Lilly now at age six stood there, "Don't go", seeing her eyes that were purely innocent. As she came closer and wrapped her little arms around him, Paul heard her tears of her own sadness. _

That's when Paul snapped out of the vision, as he turned to see Lilly in the present day looking up at him. She could see his own pain, "It wasn't your fault dad", she said while trying to avoid feeling the pain.

"Your mother would have killed me for what I had done; she wanted to be a mother so badly. I walked on the one person she would have died to protect", he said looking into his daughter's blue eyes. Very slowly he pulled Lilly into an embrace; somehow she found it comforting to regain his safety and comfort.

After letting go, he gently stroked the side of her cheek, "I can't live with myself Lilly, for what I had done".

She understood before trying to contact her partner, almost immediately Scotty picked up. He knew that his partner would be calling about the case, "Found a couple of bodies, we're having Frannie look over the remains. This isn't just a murderer, he's a serial killer".

"Where did you find the bodies", came her next question?

Scotty looked over hoping that Stillman wasn't nearby, "In an abandoned field in New Jersey, you ain't coming out here Lil".

'I'm not relax" she said, "I just wanted to know if you knew anything", turning slightly to look at her father. More importantly, Lilly had a big feeling what he squad was up against, "Scotty do me a favor and look at all the possibilities".

Just moments after she had hung up, Scotty sighed deeply; he missed having his partner around. Besides he knew that it was her instincts that would lead the whole team to the killer, but now after what had happened it was up to the squad to seek out the whole truth.

A few days later, Lilly finally returned back to work. However she remained seated at her desk, with the photos of the bodies. She then picked up a crime photo of her mother, until her eyes saw the connection. Some of the bones in the rib cage had been broke; probably in a fit of rage. However that would explain why her mother was lying on the floor, just before she had died.

Just then Scotty placed a cup of coffee on her desk, "You find anything"?

"Yeah the killer broke their ribs before killing them", was showing him the pattern. He wasn't entirely convinced, " Could have been made by animals Lil", What Frannie did also state was something important, " All of these victims had kids, but only your mother and another unidentified woman had just given birth, before being murdered".

Even Kat heard this news as well, "So what you are saying this killer, is making sure that these victims never got to see their kids. That doesn't make sense, they took Lil; she isn't a mother but I am", which was puzzling to even Stillman.

"The original victim was Lil's mother, but it doesn't make sense", agreeing with Miller. He knew that she was the only parent in the squad, besides him. Logically now either the killer was getting sidetracked or he was fooling the detectives. Either way, they were going to catch him in the end.

Putting his hand on Lilly's shoulder, Stillman silently promised to find her mother's killer. He knew that she had a bad life growing up, especially how a man had assaulted her one night. Indeed, Lilly was a fighter but she also was human.

Turning her head slightly, she then posed a question, "What if this was done post-mortem boss, it could explain for why the bones were broken so neatly"?

Sure enough Jefferies had just hung up, "Could explain your theory Lil, and could mean the killer is out of control or showing that he's the powerful one. By breaking their ribs, but look here; just three weeks before you are born another nurse had died in Center City. Cause of death appears to be the same MO".

"Next question, how are we going to find him", asked Scotty, "The killer already terrorized both Lil and her death, and he's targeting her for a reason".

Lilly groaned slightly, "He's not targeting me; he only kills people who have kids. I don't Scotty, but perhaps my mom made an impression on him. She probably fought back, explains the wound pattern on her arms".


	9. The Cold and Darkness

If Scotty was right, it certainly didn't make Lilly feel any better. Still the murderer wasn't going to scare her away from solving the cases; or her mother's. While in the middle of pouring some coffee into her blue mug with yellow lining inside, Jefferies peering in, "We have a witness says she was attacked by the same guy".

Inside of a regular room, both Lilly and Kat each took a seat. The woman: Roberta Mise; sat there with old scars all over her hands, and face. She appeared to be around the age of 65, but bore the scars of the past.

"I remember fighting hard, as If someone was trying to kill me. Then next thing I remembered was lying on the floor, blood all over me. Turns of I miscarried the baby; nothing was compared to those obscene phone calls. That voice", that's where Roberta got very quiet; as both Miller and Rush each exchange looks.

It was Miller that shared her own thoughts, since she was a mother, "I can't even imagine, losing your unborn child like that. Roberta did you happen to see who hurt you"?

"No", she replied, "I didn't, but three days ago the phone calls started again", as her eyes looked around the room. In Lilly's mind everything began to make more sense, "He was trying to drive you crazy, that's part of his game", as she then got up as Scotty stood there.

He automatically knew what she was about to say, however he remained mum about the phone calls, " What if whoever took you wasn't related to the killings, could be just some random abductor".

"Random", as her eyebrows raised, but that also could very well be a possibility, "Forget it, we need to focus on this case. It's more important than what happened to me".

Just then the door opened, as Jefferies then stepped inside, "I think we might have found our serial killer", showing him a photo of an angry white male dated from the 70's. The look in his eyes, sent shivers even and down Lilly's spine. She could see rage inside of this man, but yearned to seek out why he had done it, if he was indeed; the real killer.

"What's his name", she asked, finding her voice again?

Jefferies took in a breath, "Leroy Mack; two-time loser with a long history of violence. He was a surgeon, and worked in the same hospital that you were born in. However he didn't work in the maternity ward".

With her heart pounding, of both fear and determination; Lilly knew that this guy probably did it. Only problem now is that she had to find information, linking him to the case, "Says here that he lost his license in 1975; after a patient died on the table. After that he disappeared completely off the grid".

A short time later, a task force was being put together; to find the whereabouts of Leroy Mack. ADA Bell, wanted this guy off the streets for good, the last thing that he had wanted was a serial killer walking the streets.

However it was a good thing, that Bell were the professional type; and not the type to flirt with the other detectives. Though he attended a concert with Miller, it was merely just two friends hanging out. If he wanted to find love, it wouldn't be through work. Getting back onto the case, Bell then put up several more photos of victims; that the squad hadn't been made aware of yet. It was Stillman, which made sure that Lilly wasn't far from headquarters. The last thing that he wanted was to put her in danger.

As everyone left, Lilly remained staring at the victims; just like she did right before she had gone over to George Mark's old house. This time was different, as her eyes glanced upward at a photo of her mother. She could see the similarities between them, but knew that she needed her own justice, it waited long enough.

Somehow the case had started to heat, but then quickly died down. When Lilly was called up, both she and Scotty walked through the darkened woods in search of clues. As the two continued to walk along, several guns shots then rang out. This then put them on high alerts, while they ran and ducked for cover.

When the coast was clear, Lilly quickly scrambled to her feet, before the two spotted a house deep in the woods, "Think we've found him"?

His words symbolized the rest of the squad calling off the search; just as the house bursts into flames. If someone was covering up evidence, they were telling them loud and clear. Just as Lilly turned, she then spotted a dead body lying beneath the brush.

The body was still warm, but back at headquarters everyone had learned that Roberta had gone missing. A search of her apartment, revealed a twisted tale of murder. Inside were pictures of some of the victims, and photos of before that they were killed. None of them revealed Lilly's mother, which it was frustrating to no point.

Digging through, Vera found a photo of Roberta, Leroy and another man; that had been taken in 1976, "Pretty happy bunch"?

"It wasn't one person, It was a team", Kat said while studying the picture, "Roberta knew that we were looking into the case, that story of hers was fake. According to medical records, she had a hysterectomy in 1968".

However when Roberta re-surfaced, things began to get interesting, "You killed along with him".

"No, you don't understand, I never killed anyone", she said looking up at the two detectives, "Leroy used me, told me that I was special. He lied, told me about how he had killed a woman just three days after her baby had been born. How she begged to live".

Strangely, Roberta's face was cold which had hinted to them that she may have played a role in several of the deaths.


	10. Finding the real killer

Time was indeed ticking away, but Lilly needed to find out the truth, "What happened Roberta", her voice now getting louder.

However Roberta remained silent, which was starting to piss off the detectives. Somehow it probably was a good idea for her to do so; once Vera came across something interesting. Leroy might have tried to use an alias but somehow that plan backfired. One thing remained the same; his address is where both Vera and Lilly went to next.

Somehow that's when Leroy began shooting at them; luckily the two experienced detectives hit the ground and shot back. When he ran out of bullets, the two them broke down the door; to see a man with very intense evil eyes staring back. Just moments after Vera had placed him in handcuffs, Leroy snarled at Lilly, "Sweet One".

Those words clearly had affected her, but she wasn't going to let him get into her thick skin, "SHUT UP", she yelled. Leroy's face then turned very cold, as Vera led him out to a waiting squad car. While waiting, Lilly peered into one of the room, inside were pictures of the victims. The most powerful and saddening photo was that of her father holding her as an infant, at her mother's funeral.

Clearly Leroy got a thrill over watching people grieve or just happened to be an excellent photographer. Either way, the whole thing was saddening.

Moving closer, there were more pictures; gruesome ones. It made Lilly's stomach turn several times, before she had to look away. When Vera came back, he noticed this as well before looking at another photo, "Cute kid", making her look over.

"That's me at six", Lilly replied, "I loved that bike, my dad had bought it for me", seeing how happy that her younger self was. Although that wasn't all the time, she knew that just by riding her bike around her felt happy.

Once that they were about to collect evidence from the apartment, Lilly found more damaging pieces of evidence, that immediately linked him to the murders; all except for her mother's. Upon coming back, Lilly immediately felt sick and threw up in the bathroom. The pictures had clearly made her stomach churn.

While washing her face in the sink, Lilly glanced up and saw the face of her mother staring right back. Gasping slightly, before seeing that the face was going; this now symbolized that she was getting very close to the truth.

After taking several, long deep, breaths Lilly walked back into the room. There were indeed more gruesome photos, "Doctor Death"?

"Guy's one angry psychopath", Kat said, "Even kept a journal".

Stepping into the room, this time Lilly was conducting this interrogation with Stillman. As she circled around Leroy, angrier flowed throughout her veins. Upon placing a photo down in front of him, his face remained; cold and stoic.

Leroy then looked up, "What the hell is the meaning of this", he demanded?

"Her name was Lillian Cooper you murdered her in the early 70's, three days after she had given birth", yelled Lilly.

The older man crossed his arms, "Another useless brute, in my mind she didn't deserve to have that kid", now leering at Lilly, "In the end both parents left you, my, my, my".

Stillman wasn't impressed by this guy, however the two didn't seem to be getting anywhere with this guy. Back in New Jersey, Cooper was thinking back to the day that he had brought Lilly home from the hospital, for the very first time. To him that memory was both good and bad, but it made him realize what Lillian had given to him.

_The door to the apartment had opened, as Cooper came in holding his precious newborn daughter. His eyes looked saddened, about losing his wife; as the baby cried softly. Now peering down at Lilly, he could see her eyes opening; displaying two blue orbs. _

_He knew that she was that all he had in his life, but knew that Lilly would grow up without her mother. As Lilly cried softly, Cooper gently rocked her, "It's alright", kissing her cheek, while her head rested on his heart. _

_It was there that he had felt those pulls, which love about being a father that was so special, yet so important to him. "It okay Lilly", as he continued kissing her, "I'm here, I love you. When she finally quieted down, everything was silent but the sound of her breathing. A few tears continued to roll down his cheeks, while his eyes remained on Lilly. _

' _I promise I'll try to be a good dad", he said softly, " I wish that your mother was here, I miss her so much", as his sadness came flooding out in a bucket of wet tears. Very slowly he then gently placed Lilly down in her crib, but had continued to watch her little chest slowly rising and falling. To him, she was the most beautiful thing in his life, but his thoughts were still on his now murdered wife._

_Looking across he then saw Lillian standing there..._

That last thought snapped Cooper out of the past, but it made him want to drive to Philly to see his daughter. He needed to be with her right now, however with Lilly working on this case made him reconsider driving there. Still, if he wasn't drinking; perhaps he would have had the strength to take her away from Ellen and give Lilly a much happier life.

That never happened, but deep down his blood had boiled, wanting to meet the sick bastard that had snuffed the life out of his wife. He needed to pay for what he had done; not just to her but to Lilly as well. She needed to know the truth, and perhaps he did as well. Cooper was also angry at himself, for getting himself into a drinking habit, instead of caring for his own child.

He had reminded himself, which was only in the past. That was a bad move to even start with, thus moving in with a drunken woman was another. Cooper knew that Lillian wasn't that way at all, but had a kind goodness to her that he had wanted his own daughter to know about. After all, she needed to know who Lillian really was.

In Philly, Lilly was hard at work trying to get the story out of Leroy. Her head throbbed miserably but even with painkillers, it didn't seem likely to disappear. Stepping inside of the room, she now stood in the shadows.

Leroy's eyes remained fixed and cold, "I didn't kill her detective, I might have stalked her but she wasn't on my death list. She was on his".

"His you mean you had another accomplish", asked Lilly?

His hand hit the table, thus making her flinch, "Yes, another scumbag doctor. Guy was a true cold killer, saw him murder people with his own bare hands. I wasn't there when he killed that bitch", as Leroy wrote down the name, before passing the writing pad over to her, "Good luck finding him, or maybe you might end up like her".

The sound of his voice was downright creepy, and disturbing in nature. Lilly wasn't about to let him underneath her skin, besides she already had thick skin. After looking up the address, things were once again heating up. Only that this time, Stillman had assigned Lilly and Scotty to stakeout his place just to be on the safe side.

One thing that the squad didn't need was to be on another wild goose chase.


	11. Bloody Waters

Once the car had been sitting outside in a mostly abandoned neighborhood, Lilly glanced over at the photo of; Melvin Swat. He had lost his medical license in 1975, the same time that Leroy had as well. Also his record of abusing patients was a long rap sheet of it; but this guy clearly had changed aliases during the course of two decades.

The sound of Scotty's cell buzzed, breaking Lilly's concentration as she listened to him argue with his new lady fling. To her, she knew that it probably was Frankie; the married woman from the ID Unit. Someone that appeared to merely younger than whom she was, but that wasn't the point. After he had gotten off, Lilly shook her head, "Trouble in Paradise"?

He shook his head, "Nah, Frankie's just begging me come back. She saying now that she's pregnant with my kid", which immediately had Lilly grinning. Somehow he ignored his partner's grins, knowing that he wasn't about to get into his own personal relationship problems with his sister once again.

"So this knucklehead Married or what", he asked. Lilly flipped through the papers, "Was, but get this his wife left him in 1974. They had no kids probably a good thing, but a year later her body turns up dead in the East River in New York City".

Scotty shook his head, "You find out the cause of death", as he watched her finger tracing downward, "Cause of Death was undetermined".

For awhile the two continued to sit in silence, while watching some people walking past. Though people still resided in this neighborhood, most didn't. For one, it was merely filled with the usual stuff that wasn't new news to them. Lilly wasn't one to give up, she wanted to find this Melvin and snuff the life out of him, for what he had done to her own mother.

Still a question racked Scotty's mind, but didn't dare ask Lilly that. He knew she had been through enough and finding justice for her own mother was more than enough. As the hours went on by, there still wasn't any sign of Melvin, until 4am. That's when things had gotten a bit more interesting, as two shots were heard.

Right away, the two headed up into the building. On the fifth floor, apartment 505; Scotty instantly kicked open the door. Much to their surprise there wasn't anyone there; except a whole bunch of medical instruments; and books.

Clearly, Melvin wasn't into cleaning that much; as dust lay thick likes blankets. Take out boxes were scattered all over the counters, mixing with blood droplets. Inside of one of the rooms, it told a tale of a psychopathic doctor who would murder for a reason.

Just then Lilly saw her partner being knocked out cold on the floor, before she felt someone covering her mouth. While holding her breath, she fought before everything went dark. When Scotty had awoken he had found himself tied up in the basement of the building. His anger boiled but still couldn't undo the restrains over him his hands, feet or mouth.

It had seemed to look bad for Lilly as she awoke, before coughing loudly, " YOU NEVER LISTEN", he yelled, " I'm going to make sure that you'll never had any kids". She barely had anytime to fight before Melvin rolled up her shirt, exposing her navel. With a long needle, Lilly screamed loudly as she proceeded to kick him harder.

Upon getting up, she ran out as Melvin continued chasing her. However he then pushed her downward, before running back outside. Luckily, Lilly had a good mind to search the basement to find Scotty tied up. Once freeing him, the two raced back outside to discover that not only their car had been stolen; they were also chasing a serial killer as well.

With quick thinking, Lilly called for backup as the two exchanged looks, "What happened", she asked? Scotty shook his head, "Next thing I knew I was being held up in a dark basement, rats down there I think", he said.

"Melvin tried to inject me with something, he said something about me not to have any kids", which had gotten her to think, "What if this has nothing to do with this, but what's in his own mind"?

Scotty chuckled in amusement, "He's crazy Lil, we just need to get him before it's too late", but had no idea what his partner was thinking. Upon getting a search warrant, Lilly then followed them back into the building. Once there she searched before finding a book, with detailed descriptions of the murders, except for her mother's.

Only that of her name had been printed there, which made Lilly just about ready to kill Melvin himself. Just as the two were leaving, she then spotted Melvin running down before he had been captured; criminals were sometimes stupid. After all of this, everyone continued to search for more evidence, as Lilly opened up another box, she caught the reflection of her mother in the mirror.

Her lips appeared to be moving, but Lilly couldn't make out what she was saying. Then suddenly she disappeared, as Jefferies then touched her shoulder, "Place is a pigsty, jail would be like a shock to him".

Holding up several journals, Lilly then looked up," Guess what I'll be reading through tonight, got a long night".

In fact that night, she spent it in the office reading over each detail of the crime. Some were so gruesome that it churned her stomach, several times. Even as Stillman came on over, notice how engrossed that she was in it, "Find anything"?

"Doesn't make sense boss, Melvin killing people. He doesn't mention any details of my mother; he already had stated that she was his victim".

Stillman glanced down at it, "Tomorrow, you and Kat will have a crack at him. Get some rest; you're going to need it".

However sleep did sound like a good idea, Lilly needed it. As soon as she had gotten home and changed, her head immediately hit the pillows. While she slept, her dreams began to fill up with nightmares of almost being attacked by Melvin among other things.

Needless to say by morning, Lilly had already had three cups of coffee in her system. She wasn't nearly ready to stomach Melvin but knew that the victims were waiting, and so was her mother.


	12. Hunting the Demon

Once inside of the interrogation room, Lilly threw down the journals. She wasn't one to be messed with especially after what this out of control nut job had recently done. Time had waited enough for the victims, cases to be solved; including that of her mother's. For that Lilly, wanted to strangle Melvin for snuffing the life out of her.

Still she held herself together, and remained tough as nails, "Nice Journal, gruesome stuff. You tried to inject me with a poison; times up Melvin", as she leaned down, "Don't tell me that this doesn't eat away at you"?

His eyes remained cold and bitter like Leroy's, but continued to fix his eyes on Lilly. He didn't like her one bit, but was determined to still kill her. Just then she threw down several pictures of the women, before Kat walked in with a pissed off look on her face, "ALL THESE PEOPLE HAD FAMILIES, YOU TOOK IT FROM THEM. YOU ARE ONE WASTE OF SKIN", she yelled loudly.

Lilly glared at her, before seeing the other woman exiting. Now it was just her and the killer, and nobody was going to mess with Rush; not even Melvin. Still she circled him, before leaning forward in his face, "whose Lillian", she asked pointing the entry, "Never wrote that one in why"?

"What's your point Bitch", as her eyes fixed angrily at her, "My point is that you killed her three days after she had given birth, for what", her voice grew louder, "Took her away from her kid". At that point Melvin crossed his arms, "Woman was needless, just some new mother too much overjoyed in her own baby".

It was at that point that a chair was kicked across the room, as Scotty stood there, "You think it's funny, her daughter wouldn't think so".

That immediately got his attention, before he glanced up at Lilly, "I should have know, son of a bitch", he snarled, " You look just fucking like her", as his eyes scanned upward, " Fuck You", he said spitting directly on the table, " Good luck trying to get answers out of me".

Once inside of the observation room, Lilly shot her partner at look, "I got nothing to say to you, why the hell you would tell him Scotty. He killed my MOTHER", she yelled before exiting. Once outside, Lilly stood on the balcony, taking a few cleansing breaths. In her mind, she had wondered why she kept on seeing her own mother; was she trying to protect her in some way?

Whatever it was, Lilly knew that she wanted her justice and certainly she was going to get it. Upon hearing her name, she turned and saw her father standing there, "I was worried about you, heard that you caught him"?

" Yeah, this guy's piece of work", replied Lilly, before seeing her boss standing in the bullpen, " I gotta go", as Cooper gently touched her shoulder, " Be careful, Pook", adding on a nickname that he used to call her as a kid.

Luckily, both Vera and the others weren't there to hear it. Turning slightly she saw her father grinning slightly, before heading into the interrogation room. From there, Cooper then decided to leave although he wanted to desperately see the man whom had killed his wife. Just as he was leaving, he saw Vera once again burning himself with a pop-tart in the break room.

Meanwhile, Lilly stepped back into the room as Melvin looked up, "Well isn't it, all thin, beautiful and blonde"?

"SHUT UP", she said sternly, "I don't need you criticism".

Melvin looked surprised before sitting back and crossing his arms, but Lilly wasn't in any mood to deal with his antics, "WHY Kill them"?

He laughed harder, before Stillman slammed his hand down on the table, "You will answer her, or you'll be dealing with me", he snapped.

"Fuck you", was his only reply, "You ain't getting anything out of me, you motherless, poor Bitch", his eyes glaring wildly at Lilly. That immediately caused a big reaction to emerge, "SHUT UP, you think I care about how you perceive me. Well I don't, both you and Leroy killed people and now they need their justice. I know that you murdered my mother, thinking that no one cared about; well my father misses her terribly after all these years".

Still no comment or emotional reaction, very typical now of Melvin, "Don't pretend like you didn't care, all those victims waited long enough; their families too. I WAITED LONG ENOUGH", as she turned towards the mirrors to see the reflection of her mother in there. Lilly could see that she was serving as her protector but, knew that this guy has snuffed her life away.

Upon Slamming down the journal on the table, Melvin saw the rage in her eyes, "I watched them in their own pretty little worlds, outside they were happy; but inside they weren't. You call it murder; I call it fixing the problem. Even sliced opened one of their chests, and watched their heart beating; but I ripped it out".

Lilly's stomach turned once again, "You are nothing", lowering her voice into a whisper, "but a monster", as she placed a photo of her mother on the table, "Tell I how you killed her"!

"Ah the crazy woman who just had a baby", looking up at the blonde, "You". Nobody was going to call her mother by that name, "She wasn't crazy, she was happy. If I had any kids I'd be feeling the same way".

Melvin this time, lunged up and held her against the wall, "Nothing fucking cares, I could have killed you too when you still were in the womb, hearing her heartbeat. That safety you never had felt once out of that environment".

"SIT DOWN NOW", she demanded as he obeyed. To prevent this again, she cuffed him to the chair. Lilly wanted to literally shake out the truth from him; it was damning that he wasn't spilling about his true motives or why or how her mother had been killed. As she then took a seat, and opened up the journal, Lilly then drew in a deep breath.

Her heart ached for the victims whom had suffered at his wrath, "They didn't deserve to die, you made it that way. I think about my mother, knowing that I never got a chance to know her", her voice was soft and solemn, but her mood soon had changed, " Not like you cared at you, just snuffed the life out of a woman whom had just given birth three days ago".

Melvin's eyes looked at her, as Stillman now entered the room, just as Lilly had gotten up to leave. Still she had continued to watch the interrogation from the observation room.


	13. A new Suspect

While Lilly continued watching the interrogation, Scotty was inside standing in the shadows. He didn't like Melvin at all, wanting to crush him like a spider for his crimes. Although both he and Leroy were the masterminds behind their hideous crimes; only Melvin was being charged in the death of Lilly's birth mother.

Moving closer, Melvin grinned wildly knowing that he always had considered himself the, "Dr. Death of Philly". He had killed many patients and had gotten away with it each and every time. That in it brought forth a magical rush that made him want to do it again. Although the medical board, had revolved the other doctor; Leroy back then; it still didn't stop him from murder.

As Scotty moved closer to him, he noticed that Melvin clearly thought this whole thing was just a joke. However, he kept his composure which meant no punching out the suspect, "It must be hard, murdering without getting traced back to you. How do you do it"?

Melvin raised his eyebrows, "Nothing like staring down at the useless person, knowing that soon their hearts will just stop. Sometimes I'd listen, other times I'd just watch them struggle".

"You do that when Lillian Cooper had died", asked Scotty as he tried to hold himself back from seriously hurting this maddening man. He knew that he had to do it for Lilly's sake; knowing that she could have had a better life if her mother had lived. It was now Stillman's shot at this; he knew that this wasn't a game.

There were a lot of victims that needed their justice, and it couldn't wait any longer. In the meantime, Lilly was sent to work on another case; but back at home a picture of her mother resided on her nightstand. It served as reminder on how she still wasn't forgotten. Aside from that, another new case had just been reopened.

Although the case stemmed from 1944, Lilly's mind still wanted to solve her mother's as well. With now this case, she remained seated while combing over the documents from the original investigation. There was another problem; all the persons of interests were now dead. Lilly sighed softly in frustration, before turning her head.

Scotty breathed out a sigh, "Guy's one sick son of a bitch", he said before taking a seat, "Get's a major thrill over hearing his victim's hearts stopping, kept on going on about other victims".

"I know he killed her Scotty, there's no way that Leroy did. Melvin knew too much about my mom and me. Somehow he's playing us; we need something else to tie him to her murder".

What Lilly didn't know was that there was exactly more evidence that was tying Melvin, but it was herself that wanted to physically strangle him to death. Upon looking up, her father stood there looking very solemn. He himself, carried a lot of guilt for what had happened and also for leaving Lilly; long ago.

These last few days, were making him think about Lillian; wishing that he was still married to her. Even though he loved his current wife, it didn't take away the feelings that Cooper had for Lillian. She meant the whole world to him, but however he needed to find out why she had been killed.

As Lilly came up to him, Cooper still couldn't get over just how much she resembled her mother. He knew in his heart that she would have been so proud of her.

"I miss your mother so much, it still hurts me to think that she's gone", as his eyes turned pain. Lilly could sense that her father needed his justice also. He had spent way too many years with guilt, and now it was doing moiré bad than good.

Cooper than pulled Lilly into an embrace; needing to hold his eldest child in his arms; something he had longed to do. While she held onto him, her eyes then spotted the image of her mother in the glass windows surrounding Stillman's office.

This time, her hand was on her stomach as she stroked it softly. Somehow Lilly felt compelled to keep on looking right at her; wondering what was going through her mind right before she had been murdered. However this time her image remained there, before disappearing. As Lilly continued to feel safe in her father's arms, she knew he was hurting badly.

Upon letting go, Cooper drew in a soft breath, "I just wish that I could have saved her", before touching his daughter's shoulder, as the two went into another room to talk. Upon sitting down, Scotty entered knowing that he had some new information," We might have someone of interest", as he showed Cooper Melvin's picture.

Right away he noticed something, "That doctor was always around, but I did notice that the detective that informed me about her death, acted very suspicious. Something wasn't quite right; he seemed to be a little creepy. Came back to the apartment after I had taken you home, I think he might have killed her".

_As Cooper answers the door, holding baby Lilly in his arms, Detective Hall stands there with piercing black eyes. At first he says nothing, "You see anything before your wife had given birth"?_

"_No", as baby Lilly begins to softly cry. As Cooper proceeds to rock her in his arms, gently, the detective stands back, "When she entered the hospital was your wife wearing her ring"?_

_Cooper continues rocking the baby, " Excuse me, I have to warm up her bottle", as Detective Halls stands there, " I don't have all day Mr. Cooper, you either tell me or I'll make sure that your wife's case goes very cold", as he proceeds to kick something causing Lilly's cries to grow louder. Very slowly, he sees the innocent newborn, "I see that she doesn't have a mother anymore". _

_Caught in between caring for a newborn and the detective's nasty tone, Cooper then holds Lilly protectively, before closing the door behind._

Both Lilly and Scotty each glance at one another, "You think he might have a connection", but Cooper sighed softly, "I know he did it, he was the one whom was harassing your mother throughout her whole pregnancy".

If this was good thing it certainly was, Detective Hall had been named in a number of countless accusations regarding stalking and other things; but was never charged. Upon calling him in, former Detective Hall refused.

When backup was called, both Lilly and Scotty arrived as a series of gunshots rang out; but one hit him in the stomach. Scotty gasped as he fell while blood poured out of his wound, but as both Kat and Vera broke down the door; Jefferies was able to disarm and arrest him.

While Scotty was in surgery, Lilly stood in the halls with a pounding headache. Somehow back in homicide, the Former Detective Hall snarled at Cooper as he was being lead into the interrogation room. Once inside both Vera and Jefferies weren't in any mood.


	14. Taken

Detective Jefferies was familiar with the anger about losing a spouse, however he took this one personal since it was the mother of a woman he worked with everyday. One look at former Detective Hall, Jefferies knew that somehow this guy had to be involved with the death of Lillian Cooper.

On the other hand, Vera held back his anger especially knowing that the guy had just recently shot Scotty. By far, assaulting a fellow officer wasn't going to be taken lightly, "Why shoot an officer, what you didn't like him coming so close to the truth"?

Former Detective Hall's eyes remain dark and evil, as if he was hiding something from within. Instead he clenched his hand, "That husband of hers was abusive, punching her stomach wanting to kill her child, I once took her to the hospital after one of their fights". Jefferies then learned in closer, "Sure you did Tom", he said in a sarcastic tone.

Tom Hall banged both of his fists down on the table, "I know what I saw, Damn it. You think I was the only one who saw how he treated her"? However neither of the detectives believed him," as both Vera and Jefferies each tried to get him to confess. Meanwhile, Lilly was glad that the surgery was successful but had to wait until Scotty was out of recovery.

She wanted to physically harm the person whom hurt her partner, but knew that her squad was already pounding him for the truth. Getting up Lilly needed to head back and seek out the truth; her mother's truth. She had come so far in learning about her, but still needed to give Lillian the justice that she had deserved.

With the other case that Lilly was currently working on, she ended up back trying to pinpoint connections while worrying about her partner. Upon returning, her father met up with her; his face looking extremely worried, "Is your partner alright"?

"He's stabilized but the surgery was a success", she said as Paul nodded softly, "I need to tell you something; something that I haven't told them about". His hand gently touched his wedding ring, knowing that this information was even hard for him to even speak about.

Inside of a room, the two spoke in private. Lilly could see just how much this case had already affected him, "Tell me, for Mom", she said.

_Paul arrives home to find the whole place ransacked, dishes broken and a small hole in the wall. As he walks around he sees a very six month pregnant Lillian standing there. She's sniffling but remains quiet about what had just recently happened. Her hand is resting on her stomach; protectively as Paul runs closer._

"_Lillian what happened", he asks in a frenzied panic, "Are you alright"?_

_She shakes her head yes, but drawing in a breath. Paul looks worried, "Did that detective come around again"? Her eyes widened with fear, "He took me down to the hospital, and I thought I was going into labor. The doctor ", as her voice grew quiet._

_Paul's hand then touched her stomach, as Lillian continued to sniffle._

In the present, Lilly wondered why Tom Hall would even harm her mother, "Did mom ever mention about this doctor what his name might be"?

Shaking his head, as she took her father's hand into hers, "It's not your fault dad; Mom knew that you loved her. I just wished that I could have had her around when I was growing up".

Paul knew that he couldn't bring back his wife, but knew that he felt very proud of their daughter" Your mother would have been so proud of you", he said, "She was right about having a girl", as his lips curled into a smile.

Though Lilly wanted to kill Tom Hall, she also knew that Melvin was still very much as suspect. He had motive and the time, but being that this case wasn't hers she had to return to solving yet another cold job. Before her father had left, he paused to look at his daughter; knowing just how much he truly loved her.

Paul wanted his justice as well as the pain to finally disappear. He needed that so badly, but after he had left he headed out for another walk. Going back home to New Jersey, wasn't something he could possible do right now. Besides he had to remain close to his eldest daughter; knowing that she needed him right now.

By the end of the day, with both Tom and Melvin each not saying a word; the detectives continued sitting there stumped. Only that Lilly wasn't there, she was at the hospital visiting Scotty; who was now awake.

Despite all the pain, Scotty was able to confirm that Tom had indeed done this to him, "Get him Lil", he whispered. Lilly could relate to what he was currently feeling, as two doctors came in ushering her out. Moments after she had left the interior of the hospital, she was walking before someone slammed her up against her car.

The man looked to be about in his early 60's quite possibly late 50's, but Lilly couldn't tell for sure. It was dark but she clearly was on her guard. However the man appeared to be very angry, "How dare you accuse a former detective of murder, you never will learn", he said, "Women shouldn't even be detectives if you ask me".

As her hand reached for her gun, someone had injected her with a needle. Lilly's vision began blurring while her knees began buckling. It wasn't long before she blacked out. This time the men left not a trace of evidence behind.

When Lilly began to come to, both her legs and arms had been bound with duct tape. She fought but it now had proved to be not use. In the shadows, two feet emerged at they came closer to the pale blonde whom was now shivering.

Her clothes had been strewn off except for both her bra and underwear, Lilly knew that she had to get a grip fast if she wanted to live, but then heard the person slam the door shut before locking it. While her captives were planning on torturing her, the squad was busying dealing with both Melvin and Tom. They needed answer especially given what had just recently occurred.

This time Paul grew angrier with John Stillman, knowing that Lilly's abduction had by all means something to do with this case. He couldn't lose her little girl forever, but wasn't going to rely on the police efforts to find her.

Stillman could see the rage building up into his eyes, as he tried to reason Paul now ignored him. In face he demanded more people to find Lilly; but knew that there were people out looking for her. Inside the first interrogation room, Vera stormed in looking straight at Melvin. He was in no mood for his mind games especially, given the fact that Lilly was missing and Scotty was in the hospital.

"You know Tom Hall don't you, he was a detective. Is that how you met Lillian Cooper, through him", which didn't exactly get Melvin to speak. Besides he still was grinning, but quickly jumped when Vera kicked the chair across the room, "YOU WON"T BE GRINNING AFTER BEING SENTENCE TO ROT, IN A CELL"!!!

Inside of another room, Stillman leaned up closer behind Tom, "I know that you hurt Lillian", he voice growled, "She went missing just TWO MONTHS BEFORE THIS. WHERE DID YOU TAKE HER"?

Tom snarled back, as he told just that part. He knew that he had nothing to do with Lillian's death, besides he was on the other side of town when she was killed.

_Inside of a darkened place, Lillian sits all alone while both of her hands continue to caress her abdomen. She is four months pregnant and scared; her voice is low but audible. Just as Tom comes closer he hears her making a promise to her unborn child. _

Stillman probably knew what that promise was, "Lillian loved her baby; her daughter. What I can't understand is why you would just throw a pregnant woman into a place and leave her all alone like that"?

"Why does it matter now", Tom Snarled, "Besides I could care less, she's dead isn't she"?

Taking turns Jefferies now entered wanting another crack at Tom," We have reason to suspect you know Melvin, that doctor. You two work together to kill Lillian, why not her unborn daughter; figured that she could live and not know that she had a mother that loved her"?

Tom made a face at Jefferies, "So I knew him big deal, but if you ask me the husband was pretty unstable. Trying to calm a crying, hysterical newborn down. Guy couldn't even hold back his own emotions".

This didn't faze Jefferies, he knew that Paul Cooper was very innocent, "The man just lost his wife, exactly three days after becoming a father. He was grieving', as Stillman came closer almost losing it, "DON'T BLAME THIS ON HIM, ALL THAT MAN HAD LEFT BEEN HIS DAUGHTER; THE ONLY THING LEFT THAT LILLIAN"!!!

His anger continued to boil," WE JUST RECEIVED WORD THAT YOU HAD SOMETHING TO DO WITH THE ABDUCTION OF DETECTIVE RUSH, NOW WHERE IS SHE"?  
Tom sat back enjoying the two men's anger, " Safe, it's only a matter of time before they kill her; just like poor mommy years back", which made Jefferies thinking that if Scotty was there he would have just strangled the guy to death right then and there.

However Scotty was still hospitalized and in no shape to be doing just that. Meanwhile Kat was able to find other leads tying both Tom and Melvin to the murders. Still everyone wanted to know who exactly had killed Lillian and why?


	15. Coming closer to the truth

Inside of the dark place, Lilly wasn't doing so well. In fact, she was now surrounded by two men but couldn't see their faces. Being bound tightly made it very hard for her to escape or even fight back, just as she felt two cold, clammy fingers touching her. Lilly squirmed wanting them to stop but they wouldn't while a knife gently slid across her abdomen; as crimson blood appeared.

Though it was small like a paper cut; before feeling the cold scalpel pressing down once again; thus making Lilly yell out in pain. She wanted this to stop, but as more of her blood rose to the surface; she spit at them, "LEAVE ME THE FUCK ALONE"!!

This only made them duct tape her mouth shut, but Lilly kept on fighting. She knew that by giving up would just have her killed, but soon the cutting had stopped. Once again Lilly was: alone, tired, hungry and scared. She knew that her own fears were clearly getting in the way of her thoughts, but what if this was her own end??

As the hours continued to fly on by, Lilly grew extremely thirsty and hot. Plus the fact that she could barely breathe, due to the stuffy air conditions. Just then the door opened as pair of footsteps were heard before she felt a cold object being placed on her back. Lilly knew that he was listening to every breath that she was taking, but perhaps someone was listening to that as her mother was dying?

Whatever it was, Lilly felt scared and trapped and wished that her squad would just hurry and find her. Just as the stethoscope was placed onto her chest, a flash appeared as baby Lilly's head was resting on her mother's heart.

It was the same sound that she had heard for the last nine months, but also felt the warm kisses from her mother. Then it flashed back to the present day, as Lilly now faced her own impending death. Her stomach growled of hunger while her mouth grew drier. Dying alone wasn't something that she had wanted, but it now certainly appeared to be that way.

At headquarters, Kat took a crack at trying to find out Lilly's location from Tom Hall. She wasn't going to let him bullshit his way around this, "We know that you're somehow involved in the disappearance of Detective Rush, now where do you have her taken to"?

Tom's reaction is stoic as Kat slams both of her hands on top of the table, "Cut the crap, Lillian's husband heart broke when she was died; a part of him died with her. Pain like that will never go away, give the guy and his daughter some peace".

However Tom wasn't about to tell how both him and Melvin had killed Lillian Cooper, instead he kept on playing mind games to stall the detectives even more. In the other room, Vera looked haggard due to a lack of sleep; he wanted to find Lilly badly.

Unlike Tom, Melvin was cracking he couldn't no longer hide the hideous crimes that he had done, "I didn't have any role in the disappearance of that detective. I'm all out of cons detective, if you ask me Tom isn't to be trusted. I've killed a lot of people and don't regret it one bit, but I didn't kill Lillian Cooper".

Vera wasn't buying into this at all, "Then if you didn't, why protects him. Anyway you put it; you both will be in jail no matter what. It doesn't matter too much".

Crossing his arms, Melvin sat back, but then drew out a breath. He was ready to confess but to the other crimes, that was something. Vera knew that time was running out on where Lilly was; he hoped that whomever had taken her; wasn't going to harm her.

In the holding Cell, Leroy had written down a note just before he had hung himself. It was an address, as soon as the squad poured in; as both Jefferies and Vera moved in. Running downstairs, Vera then spotted a door before breaking it open. There in front of him was Lilly; clad in only her bra and thong.

Vera knew that there was no time for any jokes as he rushed closer, before feeling for a pulse. There was one as he slowly peeled away the tape from her mouth, "Lil"?

Lilly's eyes flickered open, while Vera undid the rest of the restraints. By now she felt both hot and weak, before being carried up the stairs and into a waiting ambulance. If anything, Lilly's health wasn't nearly that bad. Though she needed a fluid IV, her cuts weren't deep enough to warrant any stitches.

As soon as Paul saw his daughter, he immediately pulled her into an embrace. Nobody was going to harm his daughter, and whomever had done this was going to pay. Still, he felt glad to his little girl was returned to him alive.

With no one suspect dead, the squad's temper flared even more. They were up to their wits ends with Melvin and Tom. Only that now Tom seemed to be pissed when the two suspects had taken each other's lives, moments after Lilly had been rescued.

Vera kept on pressing him, before Tom finally spoke. It took him long enough but it was a start.

_**Three days before Lilly's birth**_

_A very pregnant Lillian Cooper is sitting down on a bench, while watching some kids playing on the swings her hand gently stroked her stomach while feeling her daughter's kicking from within. To her it feels maternal to be able to have something so sweet growing inside. Just as Lillian looks up, she sees Tom standing there._

_His mood then changed into a more friendly type, "You and Paul decide on a name yet", he asks? Lillian frowns not wanting to be near this man, "How dare you come here, after what you had done? Stay away from me and my baby", she orders._

_Tom then grabs her arm, pulling Lillian down, before she then slaps him. _

By now Vera isn't buying this whole story, "Then why were you even following her in the first place, you liked her didn't you. Wanted to steal her child away"?

Tom shook his head, "You really think I wanted that bitch and her baby, get real. I didn't want a family, or a wife. Just another annoyance on my list, besides that marriage was already doomed. It didn't take long before Paul found another screw up woman to play mommy to that daughter of his".


	16. Hearts and Sadness

At home, Lilly practically wanted to observe the interrogations. In fact, she could have cared less about what had happened to her. Right now she needed to bring give both the victims and her own mother the justice that they deserved. However her father had managed to stop her from heading down to work, he knew that she had been through a lot.

Being both abducted and tortured wasn't something that he'd take too lightly. In fact, his main concern was for his daughter right now. Lilly knew that she couldn't just sit at home, but knew that her father was only looking out for her. Which it wasn't a bad thing, but it could have not had come at worst time.

However she ended up arriving at work; something that didn't surprise Stillman one bit. Although she hadn't suffered any major injuries, he didn't think she belonged back at work. Nonetheless, Lilly took a seat inside of the observation while watching Vera go at it again on Tom. She didn't like what this guy have done, but knew that it was better that she herself wasn't in the room.

Inside Tom still refused to speak, even as Vera tried everything that he could to get this guy to spill. He wanted to know how Lillian Cooper had been murdered; but when Kat slid the pictures from the crime scene in front of him; she now lost it, "LOOK AT IT, YOU THINK THAT YOU CAN SLEEP AFTER DOING THIS. YOU STALKED THEN KILLED HER FOR NO REASON; I'M NOT BUYING THAT AT ALL"!!!

"First of all I didn't stalk her", he yelled, "Get your facts straight Bitch", grunting loudly, "So I killed her big deal, wouldn't be my first and no I don't care about her. She was just some useless trash".

That's when Lilly almost lost it; she wanted to physically strangle this guy to death. His face sickened her, knowing that he was the last person that her mother had saw just before she had died.

Perhaps it wasn't, but Lilly felt confidence that he was, "Boss let me speak to Melvin, I think he might crack easier than this guy. Get him to talk about the other murders, maybe it will lead to why my mom had died".

Once inside, she sat down before spreading out all the photos of the victims in front of Melvin, "We know that you killed also of people, for reasons that I have no idea as to why. I'm hearing that Tom implies you in the several of the murders. He says that it was your idea to kill them".

Melvin quickly looked up, "It was, but not about that new mother. I didn't kill her at all; just saw her around since she was a nurse. Had no intention of harming her", as he glanced across at Lilly, "You look just like her, but prettier".

That comment sickened her, as he then wrote down an address, "No more game, we're done playing into them".

Just as Lilly had gotten up, Melvin's voice stopped her, "Last chance detective, I heard the sound of your unborn heartbeat just a month before you were born. Felt you kicking; shame how Mommy couldn't stop the demon from killing her".

Lilly lunged forward," You think I'm going to fall for an act, that the demon killed my mother. You know who killed her, SO TELL ME"!!

Instead Melvin just pointed to the piece of paper, while his eyes grew even colder. Lilly knew that this was clearly just a rouse, "You aspect me to believe that this address is real. You're just avoiding talking about it, because you know damn well who killed my mother".

Lilly nearly had spent close to three hours before exiting the room; she was tired and hungry. This case clearly wasn't stopping her from visiting Scotty in the hospital. Once there, he was awake but happy to see his partner.

"Hey", he whispered as Lilly took a seat beside him, "How are you feeling"?

Scotty sighed softly, "Like someone shot me", which caused her to laugh softly, "Tom our doer "he asked?

Lilly hesitated knowing that he needed time to recover; flooding his mind with work might not be a good thing, "You up to speaking about the case"?  
He nodded, though he was still in a lot of pain. Scotty wanted to know what was going on. Still a moment of silence passed before Lilly went on to explain certain things. It was clear that now either Melvin or Tom or they both together had killed her mother.

"I think Tom did it Lil, it makes sense. Melvin is being framed for this one, he's still a murderer", as Scotty took in a breath. He still wasn't feeling that well, "Solve this one Lil, nobody else is going to", knowing that she had it in her not to ever give up.

Despite being so close to cracking the case, Lilly now received word that her father had been rushed to the hospital with chest pains. Although it wasn't anything serious, she immediately drove to another hospital in Philly to be with him. Since Paul had been stay here, and not in New Jersey where he currently lived; Lilly was the first person called instead of his wife.

As she entered his hospital room, Lilly found that her father was sitting up in bed; looking absolutely fine. For that a sigh of relief came upon her, "What happened dad"?

Paul shook his head, "I woke up with severe chest pains, but it turned out to be nothing. My heart is fine the doctors did all the tests; found nothing", as he took her hand into his, "I'm not going anywhere Lilly", giving her a small smile.

The look in her eyes, told him that she feared losing him forever, "It could have just been severe heartburn", he said. Lilly felt the tears building up, as Paul gently stroked her cheek.

"I want your mother's case solved Lilly, more than anything else. It would give up both some peace; I just need to know that whoever is responsible is put behind bars".

Lilly didn't want to leave him; especially not now, "I can't dad; I need to be with you right now". He could very well understand her reasons for it, but insisted that she go back and solve this case. It was for their own good to know that really had happened.

Just moments after Lilly had left, Paul saw Lillian standing there for a moment. He wanted so badly to kiss and hold her once again in his arms. Her lips were moving, as he for a moment tried to study and make out what she was saying.

Her eyes appeared to be one of worry, but then she disappeared.


	17. Closer to the real truth

When Lilly returned to headquarters, she knew that this case was just one step away from being solved. As Stillman had once told her, keep on asking the question till the story made sense; but who exactly was the right question and whom to ask it to?

Melvin was most certainly a cold blooded killer, plus his journal provided the detectives with the information about how he killed his other victims. If by chance, he wasn't her mother's killer then why lie to protect Tom and why did Leroy even hang himself? That question in itself was hard for even Lilly to answer, but she knew that time was running out.

Jefferies knew that he had to step up the tension, in order to seek out the real truth behind all of this. Slamming the door, there wasn't another way that Tom probably could try and squeeze his way out of getting away with murder. Upon taking a seat, Jefferies remained calm and cool. He knew that this guy was a psychopath that was able to react based on this own reactions.

One by one, he placed down photographs of Lillian Cooper, before and after her death. He wanted Tom, to exactly see what exactly real murder looked like. However this didn't faze Tom at all, in fact his lips curled into a smile. Perhaps it was the thrill or maybe he didn't kill her, but knew something about how she had died?

Whatever it was, Tom still wasn't spilling; at least not yet. He enjoyed playing this game, but enjoyed it better when Lilly was interrogating him. She wasn't the type to be easily manipulated, just like her own mother was; and they both were just as stubborn and strong. Perhaps she didn't need to die, but his secret about her death didn't strike him.

So yes, he'd rather harbor a fellow murder; rather than just give his name out. Like it really had matter in the end, besides both him and the other guy would both be serving time in jail? What he enjoyed most is the men that he had set up to kill Lilly, but they didn't.

To picture her all tied up, clad in only her bra and panties excited him. He just wished that was more careful, the things that he could have done to Lilly. Seeing her moaning from pleasure, given by him; her back arching as she came; Tom was feeling more aroused by the moment? He wanted to cleanse Lilly himself, but knew now that it was too late.

Raping a cop in the station wasn't a smart thing to do. Sure Tom had raped quite a number of women in the past, but the thrill was actually raping her would satisfy him in more ways that imagined. Jefferies also had picked up his secretive grins, wondering why this son of a bitch would be even smiling.

The answer came walking in, as Lilly stood there. Tom glanced up looking at her slender figure, wanting to see those long legs of her, which she now was hiding underneath her pants. He felt more aroused, just by watching this beautiful detective.

His eyes watched her chest rising and falling, wondering just how hard her breaths would become during an orgasm. Call it a crush or a sexual stimulation, but Tom clearly wanted his way with her. Lilly had caught onto him endlessly checking her out. She knew with him before cuffed to the chair, that there was no way he could physically harm her.

As for the mental part, Lilly could easily ignore that. No sooner after Jefferies had left the room, Lilly remained strong and focused. She knew that this demon needed to be punished, while observing him licking his lips.

"Think this is all a joke, It's not", her voice remained tough.

Tom's eyes were fascinated with her body, "Did you like it when they touched you", he asked, "If it was me Lilly, the pleasure you would have received".

His comment made Lilly's stomach turn, but Tom continued speaking, "Laying in bed all those lonely night, wishing that someone could pleasure you in ways that you never experienced. Could have cleansed you".

This now caused her to react, "You're nothing but a sick manic, you know all along who killed my mother. Give her some justice, she's waited long enough".

He crossed his arms, while looking into her blue eyes. His breathing acceded, as Lilly slammed her hand down hard on the table, "GETTING OFF ON THIS, TELL ME WHO KILLED MY MOTHER"?

Tom grew frustrated beyond before, wanting all the power over this woman. How dare she deny him sex, especially since he knew it would help her? She had an amazing beauty to her; something that couldn't be taken for granted. Just to feel the softness of Lilly's lips upon his, as she continued making love to him.

That indeed wasn't going to happen, but by now he felt the intense throbbing between his legs. Lilly felt more repulsed, "Keeping quiet that's real nice, maybe Melvin might be more willing. Cut a deal, you know serve less time"?

Just then Lilly threw down a file, "You arrested Melvin just five months before I was born, for raping my mother. Any clues to why no charges were even filed"?

Crossing his arms, Tom shook his head, "The man didn't rape her, and she just claimed that he did. It was all in her head, her husband probably did it".

Lilly knew that this simply wasn't true, especially the thought of her own father raping her mother while pregnant; didn't sound right. Especially since he had an alibi for the time that the rape had taken place, she wasn't about to press her father for questions. Besides he had enough stress on his plate already.

She leaned in closer, wanting him to confess, "You stopped them; my parents from pressing charges why"?

Tom crossed his arms, knowing that he had to make this woman crumble, "Just a few threats".

_**Four months before Lilly's birth**_

_A visibly pregnant Lillian Cooper is standing there fuming while her hand gently caresses her stomach. She feels her movement of her unborn child; who's stirring inside of her warm body. Her eyes glance up at Tom with a vial of anger brewing inside. _

_Tom looks away as he is confronted by a very angry Paul Cooper, who isn't about to let the person who raped his rape get away with anything. Despite his arguing Tom takes the other man aside before threatening him, "You let this one go, or Lillian will get what is coming to her". _

_Paul is outraged by this, as he continues to arguing with him._

Just by hearing this, Lilly knew that Tom had somehow gotten her mother's rapist to kill her. Why protect him, she wonder unless there was something else. A variable but maybe not, or perhaps he somehow forced Melvin into doing this.

With a hunch, she entered yet another room. By now Melvin had gone through a lot, and was clearly ready to talk.

"I never raped your mother; I was going to but couldn't muster enough guts to do it. She was pregnant, didn't want to risk the changes of harming you; being the unborn baby".

Again Lilly didn't believe him, "How should I believe you, you took away my own mother. Don't tell me that this doesn't eat at you"?

Melvin nodded silently, knowing that it was. He clearly could see a lot of Lillian in Lilly, for that he knew that for this crime he had to confess. The other ones were by his own doing, but not this one; killing a new mother haunted him for the rest of his life.

Drawing in a breath, Melvin was ready, "The photos were a fake, and I killed her inside of her hospital room. Originally he; Tom wanted me to kill her while pregnant", his eyes breaking near sadness.

At one point Vera took over while both Lilly and Stillman both stood in observation listening. She needed to let the rest of her squad seek out the rest of the truth. It was the only way, in order for her not to full lose her inner emotions. Lilly wanted to cry; not for herself but for her mother.

Getting a grip, she proceeded to listen. Inside, Vera circled around," What stopped you from Killing Lillian early on"?

Melvin's body tensed up, "She was pregnant, and I have a lot of respect for pregnant women. Lillian was quite beautiful that way, had a beautiful daughter", glancing up at the glass, "She's ever bit strong like her mother".

Vera kicked the chair once again, "So why kill her three days after giving birth. You fabricated her medical records, and made people lie for you. For what reason, she was a new mother; I know that she would have been very proud of her daughter".

He always had thought of Lilly as a sister, and deserved to know how her mother had died, "Lillian's husband still lives with the pain, give him some closure as well".

Melvin breathed out harder, frustrated by his guilt, "I saw Lillian two hours after she had given birth, had to push Tom away. He threatened me, and handed me a cup. Told me to tell her to drink it, I knew it was wrong".

He let out a long deep sigh, "I never gave it to her, and I dumped it and gave her a cup of water to drink. Didn't have the heart to do this, especially seeing how much she loved her baby".

Shaking her head, Lilly knew that simply wasn't true, but if Melvin knew about this it would explain something. Still neither of the detectives was that convinced that one man was behind it, they simply knew better. As the interrogation continued, everybody hoped to finally solve the last piece of the puzzle.


	18. A killer nurse?

What was a big surprise was the fact that none of the suspects had gotten a lawyer, which had told the detectives that both were guilty of their crimes. Due to Vera wanting to re interview all the possible suspects, this was going to surely take a few days.

By that time, Paul had been released from the hospital. He stayed in Philly, needing to be by his daughter's side. Although he was staying at friend's house, his mind kept on fluttering back to Lillian. Wishing that he himself could have saved her, by all means, she deserved to have a family and him.

Perhaps the mistake of moving in with Ellen would have never been a possibility; or becoming an alcoholic for that matter. That was the past, Paul knew that he couldn't change the events; what was done was done. Despite everything, he still had Lilly; whom resembled his wife in so many ways. In his heart, he still felt the loss of what had happened.

Even hearing their wedding song, made him tear up at bit inside. Although Paul hadn't heard it for years, today he just couldn't even listen to it. The pain was just too much for him to handle, but ended up over in homicide. At that very moment, Lilly was busying herself with this case; she couldn't just simply walk away from this; especially now.

She was in fact; very surprised by his sudden visit, "It's a bad time to just be dropping in Dad, and I'm pretty busy".

Paul nodded in understanding, he could see just how passionate she was at her work, and "I just was seeing if you had found out who had killed her"?

"No yet, but we're pretty close", she said, "Just that this case is pretty intense", but felt terrible about what he was still going through; mentally. Just then Stillman had motioned her to come inside of the observation room, with a deep breath; Lilly turned towards her father, "I'll call you later, I promise".

Paul nodded softly, "I love you Lilly", he said before walking out. Those words felt comforting to her, knowing that she still had a parent that truly loved her. Inside she was still torn about the woman whom raised her and her real mother.

Although both were gone, but Lilly did feel a sense of love for them both, it was strange to love someone that you never got to know. On the flipside, she had grown up thinking that Ellen Rush was her biological mother; when she really wasn't.

Though she missed her terribly, Lilly also missed her real mother was well. Perhaps she might have been a different person if she had lived. The past couldn't be changed, only the real justice can claimed. Walking into observation, her stomach turned slightly. It was a good thing that Lilly hadn't eaten anything prior to this.

With a deep breath she turned towards her boss, before entering one of the rooms. Inside, Tom grinned at her, but this time Lilly practically let her anger out on him, "Don't you dare even speak, your nothing but a monster".

Tom smiled wickedly, "I am", trying to peer down her shirt, "Would I like to suck those perfect breasts into my mouth, and make you moan", seeing her backing down. She felt disgusted by this man, but felt his eyes beating into her skin.

"Then why give that cup of Poison to Melvin, you knew that he wasn't going to kill her", she demanded!! Tom just smiled, "You know that only I can make you come that hard".

"ANSWER THE QUESTION", she yelled with her eyes growing very intense!!

Without a real response, Lilly sat there trying to get him to talk; but clearly Tom was enjoying more of her than about the victim. Not wanting to be sickened anymore by this freak, she tried once again with Melvin; who seemed more willingly to talk.

In front of him was his written confession on how he had killed his other victims; but none had said her mother's name. Lilly was at her breaking point now, "Poison, kind of fitting with your choice of murder"?

Vera had already unleashed his anger out on Tom, wanting him to confess, "Cut the bull crap", he yelled!

Tom inspected the guy, "You dream about the things she'd be doing to you. Her slim body, against yours", he said wildly, "Could have raped her myself", before Vera then punching him hard. He didn't like anyone speaking that about Lilly, "You killed her mother, and it comes down to who had done the deed". We know that it was you that set up the plan".

Still wincing from the punch, Tom watched as Jefferies pulled Vera away, " Bring me Lilly", he said with a sly grin on her face, " I told those men to take her", licking his lips, " and strip her down, just get aroused by thinking about it".

Jefferies felt slightly disgusted, about how the man was speaking about Lilly, "So it was you that arranged for her to be abducted, why"?

"You know why detective, distraction. I see that didn't stop you from trying to solve this case. Should have her partner rape her, would have been better".

Vera's face turned stoned, "You shot him, was that in your plan too. Was he getting close to the truth just like Lillian Cooper was"?

Without another word, Tom then crossed his arms. It was yet another step back in the investigation, but Vera wasn't about to give up. However Kat had discovered through records that Melvin had been book on unrelated charges and was in jail until a week later.

This information had been hidden, probably due to the fact that it had something to do with Tom. Whatever it was, the walls were slowly coming down. Kat somehow found another arrest record, for a charge that had been dropped in 1967; it had appeared to be a nurse that had worked on the maternity ward.

While shifting through one of the boxes, Kat discovered that there were deaths between 1967-1970; on four healthy newborns. She then wondered if this was a coincidence or perhaps this had simply nothing to do with the two men at all.

Getting enough information, Kat immediately took it into Stillman's office, "Boss I think I found something", showing him the proof.

This immediately, got his attention, "Margot Full", seeing her mug shot, "Arrested once for an unrelated charge", before reading the piece of paper which informed him about the deaths, "You think that she had something to do with the babies deaths"?

Somehow when Margot's name came up, Melvin automatically knew her name, "That woman was out of control, almost killed one of my patients. I used to call her," Needles", cause she had a thing with them".

Kat crossed her arms, before the door opened. Jefferies stood there, "T he arrest was fake, he was working at the hospital on the day that Lillian had been murdered. According to this, he wasn't there at the time of the death. A witness came forward to say that he had been performing surgery at another hospital'.

With that news, she turned, "You think she was capable of murder"?

Melvin Nodded, "Yes, she'd clam that the patient's hearts were racing when they weren't. The strange thing was that Margot had been committed during the 50's, using another name. She had been dating Tom; the evil couple I used to call them".

"You think they both cooked up this plan to murder Lillian, why not her baby daughter", asked Kat?

He paused before taking in a breath, "The truth was that I didn't murder anyone, Margot did. She threatened to ruin my reputation. I even helped calm Lillian down after what Tom had done to her, even felt her baby daughter kicking"

Kat wasn't convinced, "Why should I now believe you", as Melvin sighed, "You don't but I'll let you figure that out for yourself".


	19. Fear is everywhere

Finding Margot was harder to find than ever imagined. What was even stupider was the fact that Scotty had already tracked her down; before being shot. Although he never mentioned his little visit, not even to Lilly. Now she had wondered if there was a real reason for him; keeping his mouth shut, or was it a problem stemming from his own stupidity?

At the hospital, Lilly informed him of the news. He didn't seem that surprised, but upon seeing her with her arms crossed; and that look; Scotty tried to avoid it, "Look I was going to tell".

She wasn't thrilled or showed empathy towards him, "Not going to cut it, you knew about this woman. Her nickname" Needles", she probably killed my mother. That woman is dangerous, maybe you getting shot was a good thing".

He made a face, knowing that she wasn't happy right now, "I did check it out, she's bad Lil", as Lilly grew extremely angry at him. He could see her cheeks turning red from the anger, Scotty was so stupid and blind to Margot's only lies. Now this could cost everything in this case, plus the fact that one of the victims was his partner's mother.

Lilly was literally fuming with extreme rage, "You screwed up big time", but Scotty knew what would happen if she paid a visit to Margot, "Let them handle it Lil, you don't know what she's capable of ".

Taking a seat, Lilly knew she had to listen to her partner. Besides she didn't want to land up shot again, or worse; dead. For what it was worth, perhaps Scotty was keeping the information away; for a safe reason.

Since the door was closed, the two could speak in private. The bed on the others side was empty, giving him ample time to discuss theories without being overhead.

Ignoring the pain, Scotty managed to sit up, "I went there, there wasn't anyone home. There were pills among medical supplies and blood".

Lilly knew that Margot was already a cold blooded killer, but needed to gather up more evidence. By now ADA Bell had already increased security, he wanted the killer or killers off the street. He was doing everything in his will power to do so.

"Healthy newborns had died under her care, why wasn't I one of them", she asked, "Why just my mother", wanting that question to be finally answered. Scotty didn't have an answer for her, but could see the pained look in both of her eyes, "She loved you Lil".

It hurt to think about how her own mother had been murdered, but Lilly was determined to give her own mother the justice that she still deserved. It was the only way for both her and her father to heal from the past scars.

Scotty knew about what had recently happened to Lilly, for that he had to be more honest about this case, "I got knocked out, the guy Tom was a psycho nut. Balling on about you, what if both he and Margot stalked your mother. Found out about her weakness, and then used it against her"?

Lilly shook her head, "What if Margot used me as bait, so that she could kill my mother. Could explain for people knowing the nickname she had given to me; right before I was actually named".

"Sweet One", joked Scotty, "Better than Pook"?

Lilly shot him a look, before he motioned her to a closet. Inside of a bag was his wallet, aside from the cash a girl's phone number was an address, "Is this where Margot lives"?

Scotty nodded before a nurse came in, just as Lilly was leaving. Now armed with the address, both Vera and Kat went the home. It was in piss poor condition, junk out on the lawn, shingles handing off, "This place gives me the creeps", murmured Vera.

Just then they walked someone grabbed them, before knocking them out cold. When they didn't respond backup arrived. Lilly could feel her own fear rising, upon entering this dark home. Inside about 50 something medical books were scattered about. A few medical tools were lying on the kitchen table, but still no sign of anything.

As Lilly turned the knob, she screamed as dead body hung from the rafters. It was now merely just a skeleton. Her heart continued to pound harder inside, panic ensued just as she came across several more skeletons but this time they were tiny.

When CSU arrived, Lilly's heart was beating so fast, that she almost fainted. She could feel the intense fear of death, was this what her mother had felt like right before being murdered? Just then both Kat and Vera were untied, but neither of them could explain anything.

Once again there weren't any leads or trails leading up to Margot. On a hunch, they then searched the woods; but while Lilly had walked off; someone came out and attacked her. She bit down hard enough, but the person then over powered her.

When Stillman; got he heard her screams for help. He ran but the screaming then stopped, even with backup; nobody could find Lilly. Sure enough Paul was downright angry, he didn't want his daughter in anymore harm.

In fact, his blood boiled hard while glaring at Stillman, "How did you let this happen again", he asked, "Whoever killed my wife, probably has her. I don't want to lose my daughter, you hear"?

This time around, Lilly met Margo face to face. Even her eyes were evil, as her cold, clammy hands touched hers.

Lilly shivered slightly, "You killed my mother, why"; she asked trying to keep asking the questions until everything made sense. That in itself was a lesson from Stillman, but she wanted to know the whole truth.

Instead the woman then inserted a needle into her, Lilly wasn't about to let anyone harm her, "Get that thing out of me", yelling loudly. Margo, whose face remained in the shadows, gently stroked her cheek, "Relax dear", before walking away.

Not long after they had left, Lilly broke free of her restraints, but then noticed various syringes around. Her own fear was alright high, but no she couldn't display it. From behind the mirror, her victims continued crying out, as so her mother. Their tearful sad fingers banged loudly, in a desperate plea to the detective to solve this case.

With the sound of footsteps, Lilly continued running. She couldn't be the last victim, back in the dark place; Margot clasped the vital containing her blood. Her eyes grew darker, knowing that the second injection would cause this lovely blonde to pass out.

She couldn't let Lilly nor her squads capture her, the killings had to continue...


	20. Breaking down Rush

Sure enough, Lilly's vision blurred as she continued running. Then came the dizziness, causing her body to want to crash, as a whisper grew louder, she could hear the sound of a woman calling out her name. Was it her mother, but before Lilly had any time to react, blood dribbled out from her nose.

Her breathing increased, while the dizziness continued to grow rapidly. She breathed harder, while her body hit the ground. Lilly fought aggressively as a pair of strong arms soon grabbed her, pulling her back into the dark place.

Once there, she was pushed down on this bed. Lilly screamed with that entire she had, before her body went limp. A man knelt by her, as a woman stood there, "I'll take over, just keep an eye on that squad of hers. Especially her father, don't let him get too close".

With that said the man quickly left; displaying a wide variety of vitals. The woman gently picked one up, but then decided not to. She'd rather wait for Lilly to come around, rather than inject her. Besides she was determined to brainwash her, to stop this investigation. This woman wasn't Margot, but yet another accomplish.

She too had a killing side and indeed now had claimed yet another victim.

Once Lilly had disappeared, the whole squad went on higher alert. There was already a man hunt already set in place for the capture of Margot. However, Paul remained at headquarters to ensure his daughter's safe return, in fact his worrying increased.

As for Lilly, she slowly came around while a hand gently blotted her forehead; with a cold bloodied cloth. With sense of sacredness, she breathed increased. The woman gently massaged her hand, "it's alright Lilly, and I'm here to take care of you".

Lilly was unsure of what to believe," Who are you", she asked sacredly?

"It doesn't matter", moving the cup up to her mouth, "Drink", but Lilly didn't. Her head was pounding harder, as the woman pressed two fingers along the inside of her wrist. With her eyes on her watch, she then proceeded to take her pulse.

Clearly, Lilly was going to die. She knew it all too well, but using her detective skills; she tried to get in inside into this woman's mindset. In the back of her mind, she hoped that the squad would find her. The thought of dying; scared her.

She had too much to live for, besides Lilly knew that she had to get herself out of this situation; quick. Looking around, the rest of this place was too dark to determine an exit source. Probably to designed to entrap her, but the woman's voice broke her own thoughts.

"Your pulse is a bit high"; before placing the bottom portion of the stethoscope onto her chest. Lilly shivered from the coldness of it, "Why are you doing this", she asked.

The woman, whom face remained in the darkness, didn't answer her question, "Your heart is too fast", which made Lilly remember, someone recalling that her mother said something along those lines. Was it a form of brainwashing to conform to the murder?

Whatever it was, time was slowly running out. Lilly had to both act and think fast, "It's not and you know it isn't"!!

At the same time, Kat dug through something before realizing that one of them did in fact; know about the true whereabouts of Margot. When that dose of new information, she then rushed it immediately into Stillman's office.

Looking at the piece of information, he automatically knew who it was, "Scotty knew all this time", his voice growing louder. Grabbing his sports coat, Stillman rushed out of his office, wanting to have a little chit-chat with him.

By this time, Scotty had already been released from the hospital, although his brother had let Stillman in; Mike left shortly after that to run a few errands. Inside, Scotty knew what had happened to his partner," You find Lil yet boss", he asked worriedly?

"You knew about the truth whereabouts of Margot, Scotty. You put Lil's life in danger, and everyone else working this case. This serious, what else do you know"?

Scotty breathed in, "Melvin was telling the truth boss, and Margot is dangerous. She gave me this to give to Lil, I wouldn't. You think I would want to kill my partner"?

Stillman's eyes widened, "I don't know Scotty, and you haven't always been there for her. Do you still have what Margot had given you", with a nod he opened up a cupboard in the kitchen; inside was a bottle.

Once he opened it, he saw white specs floating on the top; Poison. Coming back into the bedroom, Scotty breathed out, "Margot kept threatening me, so Tom shot me when I went on over there. Still are getting those calls, but they ain't from Tom. The numbers not a Philly area code; there's another person involved Boss".

Stillman worried more about Lilly; she was always like a daughter to him. Losing her would break him, but he knew that Scotty had been threatened more than just once.

It was clear that Scotty wanted to return to work, this case was simply too deep for him to stay out of. Mostly he just wanted to put all the victims to rest, that was important as well; and finding Lilly too. If she had died, it would logically be his fault. He had kept something from her; something that could have prevented her from being currently missing.

Taking the bottle with him, Stillman automatically had it sent to the lab for testing. The good part about this investigation was the fact that ADA Bell; was the type that seemed willingly and helpful to solve this case. He too was working with the squad, since yet another body had been found; but it wasn't Lilly's.

When the lab results had returned, it spelled out one thing; Poison; but one that was a mixture of a few different ones. However ADA Bell found Lillian's originally autopsy report, something wasn't making a whole lot of sense.

In each case, the coroner had been killed; as if to silence him from knowing the real truth. What if something else was brewing that was about to burst?

As a month had passed, Scotty returned to work; ready to get back on this case. He wanted to beat the living crap out of Tom; but knew better. This wasn't going to solve the case anyways, besides the squad already had four new homicides related to the case.

For Lilly, she had already been kicked hard by this man; while purple bruises formed on both her arms and legs. Her eyes were red from the drops, which she had been administered with. Yes she knew that she felt her own death lurking in the shadows as the woman returned.

After the last beating, Lilly could no longer scream; her throat simply hurt too much. Not to mention that she was no longer in the state that she had lived all her live in, whatever she was; Lilly knew that there was no more escape for her.

Being locked inside a hot, stuffy, dark room wasn't fun. It had a few unopened bottles of water, neither was cold. She was miserable and alone, a little while later after throwing up; the woman handed a phone to her.

"Say goodbye", she said.

With her hand shaking, Lilly's voice was merely a tremble, as a familiar voice came on the line, "Boss", managing to speak, "Help me".

Just then the line went dead; Vera was able to trace it. It had seemed as if Margot; herself was getting a bit sloppy. It was Lilly whom was pretending that her voice wasn't working, sure her throat still hurt; but she still had her voice.

Standing up, she found her gun and pointed it at her, "You are Margot, and you killed my mother. For what reason", her eyes darkened, "I don't believe your lies, why kill a woman who just wanted to just live her life with her baby and husband"?

The woman stepped out of the shadows, displaying a face that didn't age well. Lilly now saw the face of her mother's killer, "You had a lot of people following in your steps, Melvin, Tom; quite possibly Leroy. For what reason, my mother didn't have to die; all she wanted to be was a mother to me. You took that from her".

Opening up the door, Margot led Lilly into another room before pushing her to the floor. I gave birth in this room, to a child that I didn't really want. When she was born she was so fragile, I wanted to love her; but also wanted to see her die as well.

Lilly kept her gun trained at the woman, "You're nothing but a monster, why take the life of a newborn"?

Margot shook her head, "Tom administered something, and it caused her great pain. Until I stopped her from breathing, she had suffered enough".

"That why you killed those newborns, by why my mother. Tell me how you killed her, I want to know. How she was in the end", with tears in her eyes; in Margot's mind however her thoughts were growing quite twisted.

However that wasn't why she had killed for so long, besides there was no evidence proving that she had even had a child; or had given birth. In a sense this case was getting more twisted out of control.

With one motion, a man came from behind and grabbed her; knocking the gun out of her hand. Margo moved closer with the needle, "NO, PLEASE", gasped Lilly, "DON'T KILL ME".


	21. Saving Rush

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**Please tell me what you liked about this chapter, rather than just putting " Good", I like to know what you readers like.**

**As always I don't own Cold Case or the characters; but I do own all the villians in this story and the victim; Lillian..**

Lilly was then pushed into the room, as she continued screaming loudly. The man then began beating her, but she still was fighting. There was no way, which she was going to let him or Margot; kill her. However the slapping continued which now worsened due to Margot; "Should have killed your father while I had the chance, he also left you as well. Perhaps I should"

Her eyes widened in fear, "No" gasping loudly, "Don't hurt him", as Lilly feared the worst for her dad. She didn't want him killed for any kind of reason, besides he was the only parent that she had left, "Please", as the man continued to slap her.

Margot frowned, "You begged for him to love you, your life was never the same after he had left", but between the pain, Lilly managed to yell out, "My life was never the same, after you killed my mother".

"There's where you are wrong", she said while filling up the syringe," I'm going to give you something to relax you". From outside, Vera heard the sound of a familiar scream, he knew that I t was coming from a certain, blonde detective.

Ignoring the signal, Scotty busted in as the man shot at him twice; but had missed both times. Scotty glanced around before seeing blood, "Where is She", he asked?

The man lunged forward, pressing the gun into his forehead, "Leave now, she isn't here. You're not even a good friend to her; Lilly knows that. You failed her so many times, you can't save her".

Scotty knew that the man was part right, he hadn't really been there for her; even after the shootings had occurred. He stunk as a best friend, but still they were so close to solving this case. Just blood flowed out from the back of the man's head, as Margot now stood there.

"Who needs him", she said, "Isn't it Detective Valens I presume. You can turn yourself back around, you will never save her".

Scotty's nose flared wildly, "Where is she", he yelled, "LIL", calling out her name!!

Margot's gun was firmly trained on Scotty, "He's right what kind of friend as you anyway, besides you always let her down. Good thing she always thought of you as a brother. Lilly told me that, right before I killed her".

He knew that either this woman was lying or Lilly was really dead. Anyways he needed more proof, as Margot then stepped back, "She bled to death over there, a more gruesome way that her mother had when I had killed her".

Scotty could see the crimson blood, knowing that there was a large pool of it; some of it was splashed on the walls. He knew that amount had meant that Lilly was in fact; dead. Inside of a darkened room, Lilly was still very much alive. Although she had bruises and scratches on her body, she wasn't anywhere near death.

Her ears had peeked upon hearing the sound of her partner's voice, but shook her head. Was Scotty that dumb to believe Margot's tricks, or was he? Lilly then heard his footsteps walking away; as she felt compelled to yell but the latest threats had meant that Margot would kill her father; if she screamed.

However she was very clever to convince Scotty, just as he was about to leave; he felt someone jabbing a needle into his arm. He then slid down the door way, before blacking out. Margot then motioned to another man, whom dragged his body into another room; that had an underground tunnel.

When Scotty went missing, police scanned the place; coming up with nothing. The blood was actually paint on the floor; but had no visible traces of evidence. Margot made sure of that, especially now. However outside, Vera caught up with a woman whom was walking through the brush. She was later indemnified as her twin sister; Francine.

Unlike Margot, Francine was willingly to tell the truth. She hadn't committed any murders, but was there for just two; one being the death of Lillian Cooper and the other for a helpless baby.

In the interrogation room, Francine whom appeared older than she looked; was riddled with guilty. Upon seeing the photo of Lillian, her eyes filled with tears, "She had the most beautiful baby, and she was waiting to name her; but couldn't figure out a name".

Vera leaned in closer, "We need your help, Francine to find her daughter. She's missing and we think that your sister maybe responsible for her mother's death".

Francine shivered in fear, knowing what her sister was capable of, "Margot killed those babies, and she killed her own two kids. My sister stalked Lillian with her boyfriend Tom, for some reason it was odd. Tom hurting that poor girl, for no reason; I tried to stop her".

Tears came spilled out harder," I saved her baby; I knew just how much Lillian loved her. I couldn't harm that little girl of hers".

Vera was now sick of believing this, "Then what did you do"?

More tears spilled out, as Francine shivered, "Nothing, I told Margot I'd stay in the nursery. I promised her mother that I would, she feared that something bad would happen to her baby".

"When was this"?

Francine was losing it, "The night that she died, right before Margot had killed her".

_**FLASHBACK**_

_A younger Francine enters the room, seeing Lillian cradling baby Lilly; in her arms. She is singing softly to her daughter, "I love you so much", she whispered softly," You are a sweet one aren't you". _

_Francine continues to stand there, watching just how good and loving of a mother that Lillian is, "I have to take her back now"._

_With a soft sigh, Lillian presses her lips to Lilly's cheek, "I love you so much", as tears begin to stream downward. Looking up at Francine, she fears what might be coming, "Don't let her harm my baby, let her live". _

_Nodding softly, Francine takes baby Lilly into her arms, "I promise", before letting Lillian stroke her child's cheek, "Mommy loves you so much, your mine strong little girl". _

Francine now looks guilty, "I should have stopped them, but I couldn't call the police. Tom was the police; his sergeant wouldn't have done anything about it. I was trapped, but they both had no reason to murder her. She was a nurse like me, had a great husband and a beautiful new daughter. They didn't have money".

Inside of the tunnel, Scotty lay on the floor; next to the now dead man. He quickly rose to his feet, before escaping. Margot quickly caught up with him. She then handed him a needle, "This has enough poison to stop someone's heart".

Scotty knew that she was going to kill Lilly, "Why her, she doesn't have to die. This doesn't have to end like this"?

"Leave or I'll kill her", she hissed before pointing a gun straight at him. Between life and death, Scotty turned and climbed up. He thought about trying to save his partner, but had been caught between these two choices.

Outside, Scotty stumbled before passing out; near where both Jefferies and Kat were sitting. They immediately called for backup, but still no sign of Lilly or Margot.


	22. Rush Found, killer still on the loose

Luckily, Scotty hadn't been injured enough to cause a hospital stay. However he was able to provide a profile of what Margot looked like. This new information was then detailed by a sketch artist before being circulated around the state of PA, and the tri-state area. A serial killer such as herself wouldn't be staying in one state for long; but someone Jefferies then sent out alerts to the New England area; as well.

Sure enough Margot remained in Connecticut, but was determined to head north up to Maine. She wasn't about to go south or west; just then Lilly had gasped. Killing her would be a victory, but Margot enjoyed watching this woman suffer. It had amazed her just how long that Lilly wasn't giving up without a fight.

Margot then handed her a cold, bottle of water; in which Lilly quickly consumed it. She wanted to go home, and see the light of yet another day. Clearly, her fear had risen, "Please just let me go", wanting to see her father again.

He always and still had meant a lot to her; even now. Lilly knew that her own death would push him over the edge; into a bad grief. Losing his first wife; her mother, had struck a certain kind of pain that never really went away. She couldn't bear to give him; another dose of that.

Back at homicide, Scotty still had refused to tell them about where Margot was hiding Lilly. He had fears that if he had told anyone; that Margot would just kill her. While he fretting in the break room; Francine still sat in the interrogation room; as she turned she saw Lillian's image in the mirror; looking straight at her.

Francine's eyes widened in fear, before the door had opened; it was Kat's turn to grill her. She knew that this woman probably wasn't a witness but saw the willingness to help find Lilly.

Upon sitting down, Kat silently placed all the photos of the victims out on the table. Francine sniffled silently, "That box is where Margot killed her second baby, and she killed her first one as well".

Kat grew interested, but at the same time horrified, "There's no record of Margo even having kids", but Francine began to softly cry, "That second baby was mine; she took her and locked her inside of the trunk. I tried to unlock it knowing that she couldn't breathe; Tom held me down"; as the older woman began crying harder.

The pain was just too intense," Until her eyes had stopped, my baby was dead", her hand gently touching her stomach. Kat could feel the emotions knowing that if someone had ever done that to her daughter; Veronica; she wouldn't know how to live anymore, "They need to be stopped, and you need to help us solve this case. You made a promise to Lillian, now you need to honor it".

With tears in her eyes, Francine noticed the look on her face, "Are you a mother", seeing Kat nodding softly, "I can't imagine if someone hurt my daughter, but both Margot and Tom hurt Lillian's daughter. She was only three days old, in need of her love".

Francine could hear the sound of her daughter's cries from inside of the trunk, "I wanted to save her; my daughter. When they took her out, she was barely breathing. She never knew that I loved her, could never tell her that".

Touching her hand softly, Kat could understand, "Either could Lillian's husband or daughter. He's here but wants to know why his wife had died. He lived with this pain for almost 40 years; give the man some peace and his daughter".

The woman felt the pain from what her sister had done many years ago, "I want to meet him, it's important", she said.

Kat looked towards the two-way mirror as Stillman nodded softly. He then lead Paul into the room, he noticed Francine and remembered her, and "You were in the room, when I first saw my daughter".

"I didn't kill your wife", sobbed Francine, "She told me to tell you that she loved you with all her heart, and to protect Lilly"; something that deep down, Paul hadn't. He had left her with Ellen; someone that wasn't her mother or proved is a good one.

That was yet another promise that he had broken, not only to him; but to both Lillian and Lilly. His eyes still reflected the pain, "Did you see my wife die"?

Francine shook her head, "No I was in the nursery, and have the records to prove that was there. I was taking care another baby; your daughter was also there asleep", her eyes looking up at the man, "Three people are responsible for the murders, only two had killed your wife. I saw your face the next morning, still remember how you cradled your daughter in your arms".

Paul clearly remembered that, "Lilly was the only thing that I had left, do you know where she is", he asked?

"Margot's dangerous, I've always been afraid of her. I don't know but she's going to kill her. She's unstoppable and psychotic", which now had Francine shuddering, "Tried to kill me after my baby had died".

If a lesson that been learned was to learn from past mistakes, Paul certainly knew all about that. He knew he had to find his little girl; before this demon had taken another member of his family away. One thing that Paul knew was that he believed Francine; she seemed to be a broken woman after everything that had happened.

Outside, he turned to Stillman, "Find Lilly, I need you to find my daughter", his eyes pleading knowing that she still had a full life to live.

Vera certainly had enough of this case, but knew that Scotty was clearly hiding something. In fact, he cornered the younger man, "You were held in something, you need to tell us Scotty. Losing Lil wouldn't be a good thing; she's going to kill her".

Scotty shrugged, "She's going to kill Lil, no matter what", which is something that Paul had accidently overheard. Hearing that made him almost want to hurt this guy; but quite didn't. The older man moved closer," You know something about where my daughter is, tell them", as anger flowed through Paul's eyes.

This clearly didn't help, Scotty wasn't about to give up the location, " I can't", which was making Paul angrier, " I WANT MY DAUGHTER BACK, YOU HEAR", he yelled, "Some partner you are to her", before Stillman lead him away.

In his office, he knew that Lilly needed to be found, "I have a team set up, I'm not losing her too. Lil's always been like a daughter to me, she's a great detective".

Keeping this promise, Stillman left him in the office while grabbing a bullet-proof vest. Everybody was going except for Scotty whom was told to remain at headquarters. While that was taken place, Lilly breathed harder, before the door had opened. Margot folded her arms, "Walkout", seeing how the blonde was trembling.

"NOW", she demanded. Once out, Lilly's body fell to the ground; she was now weakened due to lack of food and water. Her body was shaking while her heart raced inside, "What do you want", she asked?

Margot then shined a bright light into one of her blue eyes, before Lilly gasped. She was beyond hunger and tired, "Please don't kill me", and she had managed to say.

However that was now just a week ago, Lilly still remained there weak and tired. She had barely enough energy to get up, as she now heard the sound of footsteps. Was it Margot, her heart began racing until discovering that it was only Kat.

Right away, Kat crouched down seeing how weak Lilly had become, "It's alright Lil", and she whispered, "Can you walk"?

Lilly's head throbbed, but somehow had managed to climb up. Once there, Vera then helped her up; before carrying her to a waiting ambulance. As one paramedic wrapped a blanket around her body; another took her pressure.

Once she had been taken to the hospital, there was a few blood tests being run; after telling the doctors that Margot had injected her; several times with some substances.

Luckily, she had managed to eat a few crackers. Although her mind was fuzzy, her stomach was merely running on empty. When Paul had entered he immediately went to Lilly's side as the two embraced. Lilly for the first time, cried softly. She missed him terribly, but knew that she still had to solve this case; for him as well.

When the tests came back, Lilly was taken aback, "Vitamin shots, why", she asked, "I don't understand" but then realized why, "Margot wanted me to think that she was going to kill me, long enough to let me escape".

Paul held her back, "No, I don't want you going out on a wild goose chase, Lilly. You've been through enough, I can't lose you forever", knowing that her recent disappearance completely scared him, "Let them go on that chase".

Although the doctors, released her later on; she was told to get some bed rest. Lilly wasn't about to simply just do that, she couldn't relax until her mother's case was finally solved. Margot had to be caught, but she wanted to be in the room; after she had been caught. To find her they needed the help of Francine, to catch a cold bloodied killer.

There was yet another problem; Francine now wasn't talking…


	23. Time Heals Old Wounds

When Lilly had returned to work, she continued to ignore Scotty. He didn't seem to be at all bothered by the fact, that she was still alive. Just then as Frankie walked in, to give a piece of information; the two exchange glances. Somehow after she had left, he soon had followed with was even making Stillman very uncomfortable.

However it didn't both Lilly, she knew that her partner was one big Casanova. He lack self control, but that was his own problem. Aside from his little problems, she walked into the interrogation room and slammed the door; seeing how it spooked Francine. Lilly was through with all the lies, she just wanted the truth already.

With very intense eyes, Lilly wasn't letting anyone lead her or the squad on another wild goose chase, "You know how Margot killed her, how did SHE DO IT"? shocking Francine even more. The older woman remained silent, but knew that the truth had to come out. However she didn't even know how Lillian Cooper was even killed; and by what way.

It didn't take long for Lilly to figure that one out, "Then why keep silent, unless you were there"?

Francine sniffled back, "You don't understand", seeing the needle marks on the younger woman's arms, "She tried to kill you didn't she, but injected you with the vitamin shots instead. That was always Margot's way of scaring someone into keeping their mouth shut".

Lilly froze but tried to keep herself focused, "You know something, now's the time to say something. We know that Margot is responsible for the killings and for my mother's murder; but need her to tell us why; unless you already know".

With the time ticking away, nothing of the sort happened. Lilly was sick of these people, playing games. Not long after leaving headquarters, she then headed down to Geno's in South Philly for a cheese steak. Much to her surprise, Vera already bought her one, "Tough case".

"Yeah, Francine's not talking and Margot's still on the run", as she bit into the cheese steak. While walking along, Scotty met up with the two. However Lilly still was avoiding him, "Enough Lil", he said firmly.

Lilly frowned, "Go to hell Scotty, she could have fucking killed me", she yelled loudly, "All you did was sit on this information, while I got hurt".

The two each shot each other a cold, hearted look. Lilly was beyond pissed at him, "Do us all a favor, go fuck up another case. You still have your mother, I don't. Mine was killed three days after my birth, maybe if you lost a parent maybe you understand".

Storming off in almost a fit of tears, Vera also shot Scotty a look, "You have no right, this case also affected Lil's father. Grow up Scotty, you aren't a great friend; especially to Lil".

Lilly somehow had ended up in Fairmont Park, just sitting on one of the benches. She did feel lucky to be alive, but felt bad that both of her mother's were no longer alive. Sure Ellen Rush, had raised her; but even though she wasn't her biological one; Lilly still loved her.

Then there was her real one; a woman that Lilly had never had gotten to know. She wondered how her life would have been if Lillian was still alive. Would her father still had left, or would he have been there the whole time that she was growing up?

While she was sitting at the park, Vera was led directly into a trap which Margot had inadvertently set up. However he then pulled out his gun, "ON THE GROUND NOW", as Jefferies moved in to arrest her.

Once the news of that was heard, Lilly was called back to headquarters. This time she entered the room alone and was ready to deal with this woman; face to face on her time. Inside, Lilly frowned at the woman with disgust, "Thought you could try and poison me, it didn't work. Your sister already told us about you was the mastermind behind my mothers' death".

Margot let out a breath, "I did what I had to do, and she tried fighting. Every one of my victims did, but after Tom had raped her, I decided to wait until you were born before killing her. She was too protective while pregnant".

Lilly sat down directly in front of her, "I need to know how you did it, we have all the evidence now linking you, Tom and Melvin to all the other murders; but except my mother's. You did this alone, I can't understand why you would take the life of a new mother; and leave me alive".

"I did my dear, I watch her suffer until she was gone", those words hurt Lilly deeply, "Tell me, what she was like in the end, I need to know".

Margot's face turned demonic as she began to recount that very day, "She knew that I was going to kill her, your mother feared me; just like the rest of them did".

_February 1970- Three days after Lilly's birth….._

_10pm….._

_Margot walks into Lillian's hospital room and closes the door. Lillian turns, appearing frightened over this woman, "Please why are you doing this, I want a chance to be a good mother to my baby". The other woman ignores the new mother's pleas, "Your baby is sick, like you are. I listened to the sound of her heartbeat, she's weak"._

_Shaking her head in disbelieve, Lillian knows that it wasn't true, "My daughter is fine, and she isn't weak. Each time that she kicked, I knew that she was much bit strong", as Margot pushes her down onto the bed. Lillian manages to bit her hand on her hand, before being bound with restraints. _

_Margot then proceeds to take out a needle, as Lillian then gasps, "Please, don't hurt me", seeing the needle coming close, "My baby, don't hurt her", as the needle then punctures her skin. With a pair of cold eyes, Margot then injects her with the poison. _

"_Sweet one Claire", she gasps before adding, "Paul", calling out for her husband. The dose takes immediately reaction as Lillian struggles to breathe, while Margot continues to listen to the sound of her heartbeat. _

_It's now slowing, as we now seeing baby Lilly inside of the nursery. Just as her mother dies, she begins to cry hard, her innocent cries will now never be answered by her mother. In the hospital room, Margot unties the restraints and messes up the room, a bit before sneaking out. She then heads into the nursery, seeing now the little girl of a woman that was now dead._

_With cold eyes, she ignores the crying newborn before going about her business._

With a blink of an eye, Lilly almost is in pure tears, "You took her own happiness away, I was only three days old; I needed her; I still do".

Margot's eyes were intense, "She was in pain at the end, and I was listening when her heart took that very last beat. It disgusted me to see you lying there, it still does. I should have killed you as well".

Getting up, Lilly shot her a look, "You will never have that chance", as she then stormed out of the room.

In the days following, Margot confessed as well as Francine for the other hideous murders. Just as they were being lead out, Paul stands there looking at his wife's murderer. A flash of him in 1970 is being seen as well as Lilly. During the flashes, she is in his arms.

In the present day, the two aren't happy, When Tom is being lead out, and he still proceeds to check Lilly out along with Melvin.

In the future, Lilly is standing at the grave holding her newborn baby daughter. She smiles at her; as Saccado stands in the back watching them both. Paul then comes closer, seeing the slight of his granddaughter, "She's beautiful Lilly".

Lilly smiles back, as the two look down at Lillian's grave. Paul then proceeds to place several roses along the stone, "I still love your mother so much, even now. She gave me something that I knew that I could protect and love. Not even her killer could take that away from me, or Madeline", as he then leans over to kiss the newborn's cheek.

Just then Lillian appears smiling both at her husband and daughter, before blowing a kiss at her husband. Paul watches with the aching in his heart, as his lips move to form the words; I Love you.

Later on, Lilly feels someone kissing her cheek; her eyes open to see her mother. Lillian smiles softly, "I love you", her voice echoes, before disappearing. Then Lilly sees Ellen Rush fading out, deep down she knows now that both of her mother's are at rest.

Glancing at her daughter, Lilly smiles before closing her eyes; as the two pictures on her nightstand are of both of her mothers.

**THE END**


End file.
